HURIWA tasks S’East governors on de-proscribing IPOB  

As group announces cancellation of sit-at-home
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, urged governors of the South East to immediately de-proscribe the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying it is the fastest path to restoration of peace in the region and surest way to enable constructive and law-based dialogues.

The group, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, recalled that the South East Governors Forum rose from its meeting on September 15, 2017, proscribing IPOB in the entire region.

HURIWA noted that the former governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of the South East Governors Forum at the time, David Umahi, had told journalists in his office that Nnamdi Kanu was gradually losing control of the situation, which informed the call on governors in the region to wade in to prevent further bloodshed. The group quoted Umahi as saying that the proscription had achieved the desired result.

According to Onwubiko, the former governor had noted that IPOB had lost its original ideal by causing unnecessary tension and killings in the South East, which, he said, has affected investment drive in the region.

The rights group further stated that based on Umahi’s claim, the military did not attack IPOB members as claimed by Kanu, suggesting that it was IPOB members who threw bottles and stones at the military officers.

HURIWA, which faulted the decision of the governors to proscribe IPOB, resulting in military actions against members of the group, including the arrest and detention of the IPOB leader, has again asked the newly elected governors of the region to undo the collective harm they unleashed on the region by de-proscribing IPOB to de-escalate violence in the region. It also asked the governors to prevail on President Bola Tinubu to release Kanu.

The group, however, condemned the continuous enforcement of sit-at-home order by Simon Ekpa, saying the action has engendered widespread killings of Igbo and crumbled the region’s economy.

MEANWHILE, IPOB, yesterday, began the distribution of flyers and posters across the South East to notify residents of cancellation of the sit-at-home exercise in the region.

IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, disclosed this in a statement titled: ‘Monday weekly sit-at-home: An ugly phase of a bygone history that must never be repeated as echoed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.’

Powerful explained that the exercise was aimed at conveying Kanu’s pronouncement, cancelling the practice.

The group said: “Any person or persons talking about a non-existent sit-at-home in the region is an enemy of the people and shall be dealt with accordingly.”