The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has urged the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma to immediately facilitate the return of 500 youths allegedly arrested in the state and taken to Abuja.
This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the group's spokesperson, Emma Powerful.
According to the statement, Uzodinma invited security agents about a
year ago to arrest about 500 Biafra youths who were taken to Abuja. The
group called for the immediate return of their ‘brothers’, saying
failure to do so will not bring peace.
IPOB further alleged that
some of the arrested youths were already being returned to Imo State
for prosecution but had been killed along the way by the security
agents.
The group also said Friday makes it exactly a year that
Ikonso, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) Commander was killed in his
sleep by men of the Nigerian Army.
IPOB said Ikonso was killed
for doing nothing wrong but defending Igbo land from attacks by killer
herdsmen. The group further warned Governor Uzodinma to ensure that the
deceased's family house, which was burnt down, is rebuilt.
A
statement from the group reads, “With deep concerns, we the global
family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our great
and indefatigable liberator Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu wish to remind
Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom across the world that
this is a year our gallant comrade Ikonso was murdered by the wicked
Nigerian Government and its compromised security agents.
"They murdered the innocent citizen who they saw as a threat to
the evil agenda of the Fulani jihadists masquerading as herdsmen in
Biafra land.
“IPOB movement has been looking for the body of
this man for one year and we have not seen his lifeless body and all his
family houses were burnt down because he was defending Biafra land
against occupation by jihadists. Other gallant Biafrans arrested by
security agents around this time last year are not yet released.
“This
is also one year that Hope Uzodinma and his APC party invited the
military to kill innocent citizens in Imo state and they arrested and
abducted many people who they ferried to Abuja. We are also yet to see
them. They abducted over 500 Biafra youths in Imo State last year, and
we want those youths back for prosecution if they think they committed
any crime.
“We gathered through intelligence that those youths
were actually being brought back from Abuja to Imo State but
unfortunately Nigerian security agents who were escorting them executed
them along the way of Abaji and Lokoja in Kogi State. We are about to
exhaust our patience. Hope Uzodinma should please return those youths
before we lose our patience.
“Hope Uzodinma should be held
responsible if anything untoward happens to our comrades. He should not
expect to conduct his daughter's traditional wedding in Abuja while the
Igbo youths he aided in their abduction were executed by security
agents. The spirit of those youths won't allow him to go on a
celebration spree after making many innocent families childless.
“Hope Uzodinma should also not forget that he must rebuild the
houses of Ikonso's family and his uncles which were burnt down by
security agents.
“Couple of weeks back Hope Uzodinma told the general public that
IPOB is not responsible for the insecurity in Imo state, but lest we
forget, he has arrested many IPOB members in Imo State, killed hundreds
of them while thousands are missing under his administration.
“The
question is: why is Hope Uzodinma not releasing all our members and
non-members he abducted and put in detention since last year? Since he
declared openly that IPOB is not responsible for the insecurity in Imo
state, why is he keeping our members in detention?
“What of
those he handed over to Abba Kyari and his IRT team in Abuja? What of
those put in Tiger detention facility in Imo state and many other
innocent Biafrans suspected to be IPOB Members he transferred to Abuja
and Kaduna to detention centres in the Northern part of Nigeria.
“IPOB
Intelligence unit has it on record that there are many of IPOB members
Hope Uzodinma asked his masters to bring back from Abuja where they were
detained with heavy torture to Imo state but Abba Kyari’s team
reluctantly agreed to return them, but on the way to Imo state Hope
Uzodinma forced them to be executed, saying that he doesn't want them
alive to Imo state. They were all killed along the expressway from Abuja
to Lokoja. More than 70 of them were executed between Abuja and Lokoja
expressway in Kogi state.”
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