The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been cautioned for making rash decisions that may jeopardize an already fragile peace in the South East region. This follows the group’s recent ban on the singing of the Nigerian national anthem and consumption of cow meat in the Biafra territory from April 2021. Those who reacted said IPOB should realize that the people of the South East have been at the receiving end since the agitation began.
In his reaction, former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara, cautioned that banning national anthem and consumption of Fulani cows in Biafra land might jeopardise the case of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Wabara advised members of the group against taking any action that might worsen the already precarious situation in the region.
He urged the movement to be calm in the face of the current ordeals of Kanu instead of making utterances that could further aggravate the situation.
“The group shouldn’t further fuel the tension but should wait for other possible options. This might further jeopardize the situation on ground. They shouldn’t do that now”.
Similarly, the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Abia State chapter, Apostle Emmanuel Agomuo, completely disagreed with IPOB leadership on the latest order. He said the group was taking laws into its hands as the order was not enforceable.
According to him, any attempt to enforce the order will result into serious confrontation with the federal authorities, a development he added, that would further worsen matters for people in the region.
He said the group should rather focus on efforts to secure release for its detained leader instead of dishing orders that are capable of setting the region on fire.
The CAN boss argued that even if President Muhamnadu Buhari had declined from considering political solution to Kanu, there could be other options of resolving the impasse.
“The order amounts to taking laws into their hands. We are talking of how to release Kanu. Pressure is on President Buhari to release Kanu, and they should not take any action that could truncate that effort.
These boys should not set South East on fire. We don’t support this style.”
The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, on its part said the order would not benefit the people of the region. COSEYL President, Goodluck Ibem, said, “it is undemocratic to ban cow meat. It is not in the interest of the Igbo people that there should be no national anthem in the southeast schools. These things will not solve our problems, instead it will worsen the whole thing. Rather we should look inwards and resolve our problems.
“IPOB is chasing shadows when you say people should stop eating cow meat or there should not be any national anthem. It will not solve any of our problems, it will not enhance the future of the people of the South-East people and it is not in the interest of the economy of the Igbo people.”