IPOB tackled the Nigerian military for claiming its intervention brought an end to the sit-at-home menace in the Southeast.
As normalcy gradually returns to the Southeast region of the country following the stamping out of the sit-at-home menace, the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has berated the Nigerian Army for claiming responsibility for the peace restoration.
The army had recently commended the efforts of its troops in stopping the violent enforcement of the Monday sit-at-home order in all the five states of the region.
But in its response, IPOB described the claim of the military as laughable, saying such arrogation is misconceived and as such doesn’t hold water.
The secessionist group stressed that it’s erroneous for the military to take credit for the gradual restoration of peace, adding that it was Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader, who should be credited.
According to IPOB, it was Kanu’s instruction to Simon Ekpa and his group that led to the stoppage of the enforcement, which had negatively impacted the economy of the Southeast.
This was contained in a statement by the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, entitled, ‘The public should ignore Nigeria Military claim of stopping Monday sit-at-home order in South East.’
Powerful said that while the Monday sit-at-home lasted in the region, the military and the police were nowhere to be found to give people security.
The IPOB statement read, “The attention of the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, has been drawn to the laughable, disgraceful and a statement that does not hold waters, credited to the Nigeria government and its compromised security agencies, particularly the military that they stopped Monday sit-at-home order in the south East Region.
“We therefore, request the general public to ignore the military and other security agencies. The claims of the Nigeria military of being responsible for stopping the infamous sit-at-homes is laughable and criminal.
“As much as the sit-at-home was an IPoB brainchild and a powerful strategy of IPoB before the Nigeria government agents hijacked and abused it, its ending was as a result of proactive actions and strategy by IPoB and our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“IPoB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu printed flyers, posters, and banners informing our people that sit-at-home is over and had been over. It is on record that IPoB discontinued Monday’s weekly sit-at-home after its first successful observation and our people’s voluntary compliance before Nigeria government agents claiming to be working for IPoB hijacked it and used it to commit crimes.
“Where were the Nigerian military and police when the people of South East were molested, intimidated and killed by hoodlums enforcing IPoB cancelled Monday weekly sit-at-home? They were all hiding in their barracks on Mondays while the sit-at-home lasted until our leader’s instruction that it must stop forthwith in Igbo land.
“Where was the Nigerian government that felt it’s continuation was a weapon to deal with the South East and should not be stopped? Both the immediate past and present Nigerian governments wanted it to continue because they believed it was against the Igbo economy and therefore should not stop and they actually did nothing to stop it, including giving orders to the military and Police to give protection to people who dared to come out on the road and streets.
“The Nigeria military must stop telling lies that they stopped sit-at-home, they never did, they were rather hiding in their barracks while it lasted. IPoB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu stopped sit-at-home. Nigeria’s military has no capacity to stop the infamous Monday sit-at-home in Biafraland.
“How did they stop sit-at-home that they were complicit about? Our intelligence reveals that Nigeria security forces removed their uniforms and joined them in enforcing Monday’s sit-at-homes in the Southeast.
“IPoB and our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu ended the infamous sit-at-home, not the Nigeria military and public should ignore Nigeria Government and its compromised security. The Nigerian security especially the military and the police aggregated the sit-at-home by their tacit support of the criminals enforcing the sit-at-home to blackmail IPoB and Eastern Security Network, ESN.
“The Nigeria Military and her sister security forces are part of the insecurity and criminalities, banditry and burning of properties and homes in our territory just to demonize IPoB and ESN. You can see what they are currently doing in Ehime Mbano because of the bandits killing their men. The Nigerian military are the arsonists we have in the South East. They burnt houses and properties in Oguta last year over the loss of their men, they are burning again in Ehime Mbano also in Imo State for the same reason. So they should keep quiet and stop claiming what they didn’t achieve.
“Over 75% of the violent crimes in the South East are perpetrated and directly sponsored by the Nigerian military, DSS, and Police to blackmail and demonize IPoB, ESN, and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, so they should seize forthwith their claim of stopping Monday weekly sit-at-home.”
