IPOB members allegedly burn vehicles, police station in Anambra

Group, VON DG urge Ndigbo to ignore boycott order
Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been accused of masterminding the burning of some vehicles and the Ajalli Police Station in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

They also beat up some policemen on sight and freed some inmates at the police station before setting it ablaze.Newly deployed Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura, rushed to the scene of the mayhem where he directed Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department to investigate the incident with a view to unraveling circumstances behind it.

This follows threats by the secessionist group to disrupt the general elections beginning with the Presidential and National Assembly polls in the South East where its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, had declared, “No Referendum, No Election.”

But in a swift reaction, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Haruna Mohammed, distanced IPOB from the mayhem, saying it was a fire incident.

However, President General of Ndigbo Lagos Foundation (NLF), Major-General Obi A. Umahi (rtd.), has urged Igbo people in Lagos and the entire country to distance themselves from IPOB’s order to boycott the polls.He argued that heeding Nnamdi Kanu’s boycott order would be the greatest disservice to the country, adding that the organisation does not have what it takes to represent Igbo interest.

The Foundation made the call at a press briefing at Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos. Meanwhile, Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has said that IPOB’s call would not be a threat to Saturday’s general elections in the South East. Okechukwu spoke in Enugu at All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential rally headed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

At the rally, which was packaged by a coalition of Igbo Youth Organisations (IYO) in support of Buhari’s re-election, Okechukwu said, “People who are saying that we should not participate in the election are in the fringe.”He added that the call has become necessary to let the Igbo group understand the implication of failure to participating in the polls. Okechukwu, therefore, charged all Igbo to come out en-masse to vote on February 16 and March 2, 2019 and defend their votes to ensure that they count.