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Coalition condemns attack on IPOB agitators in Abia State

By Julius Osahon (Yenagoa) and Segun Olaniyi (Abuja)
13 September 2017   |   4:21 am
The leadership of the Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC) specifically noted that the militarization of the Niger Delta and the South East would not end the raging agitations.

A coalition of youth and regional bodies yesterday flayed the confrontation between the military and the separatist movement, describing the reported invasion of Kanu’s home as “condemnable and sad.”

• Lawyer raises fear over Kanu’s whereabouts

A coalition of youth and regional bodies yesterday flayed the confrontation between the military and the separatist movement, describing the reported invasion of Kanu’s home as “condemnable and sad.”

The leadership of the Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC) specifically noted that the militarization of the Niger Delta and the South East would not end the raging agitations.

Its president, Eric Omare, in a statement yesterday in Yenagoa, said the graphics of those killed and injured during the Umuahia clash told a sad story about the engagement of the military with the IPOB members, adding that such attack on innocent people amounts to gross violation of human rights.

He said: “The deployment of troops whether as Operation Crocodile Smile or Python Dance is not the solution to the Niger Delta and Igbo agitations. The demands are about quest for equity and fairness in the affairs of Nigeria and cannot be silenced through the barrel of gun.

“In the first place, it was totally unnecessary and insensitive for the military to launch any operation in the South East considering the prevailing atmosphere in the region.”

IYC therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to bring the perpetrators to justice and immediately end the military occupation of the entire South East region.

To the South East-South South Network (SESSNet) the alleged invasion was a threat to the unity of the country. Meanwhile, counsel to the IPOB leader, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, yesterday raised the alarm over the whereabouts of his client.

In a statement yesterday, he said he could not confirm whether Kanu was dead or alive. It reads: “This is just to notify the world that my client, Nnamdi Kanu’s house is presently under siege by the trigger-happy soldiers acting under the direct instruction of the Chief of Army Staff.”

“They drove in their thousands to arrest and maim him. I just got a distressed call from him now. Further efforts to establish contact with him have remained unsuccessful.

“As it stands now, I can’t confirm whether he is dead or alive.”

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