IWA cautions FG on use of force against self-determination agitators

Wants unconditional release of Kanu, other political prisoners

Igbo World Assembly IWA, the umbrella organisation of Ndigbo in the Diaspora, has cautioned the Federal Government against the use of force to stop ethnic nationalities from agitating for self-determination.

The group, during a virtual meeting yesterday, also reviewed the abduction of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in a foreign land and his detention in Nigeria and called for his unconditional release.

In a communiqué signed by its chairman, Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze, the group urged the Federal Government to allow Nigerians to decide their fate while it focuses on addressing massive insecurity, unemployment, hunger, poverty and other challenges.

It said Nigeria could only be saved through a negotiation that allows the people to express their will and discuss their peaceful co-existence based on equity, respect and fairness.

“We need a serious dialogue among all the ethnic nationalities for Nigeria to continue its existence,” it said.
It noted that Kanu must be released immediately and unconditionally, saying, “His further detention is unacceptable. The current situation whereby Southern Nigerians agitating for a free homeland are killed, arrested and detained, while cattle herdsmen/Miyetti Allah that kill our people and rape our women are protected can no longer be tolerated.

“The abduction of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu cannot silence or end the agitation, as the root cause for agitation remains unattended that is, allowing the Nigerian people to decide their fate or live in freedom.”

IWA affirmed its commitment to the unity of Nigeria on the pillars of equity, fairness, justice, progress and peaceful co-existence between and among its people through a national dialogue.

It added: “The very existence of IPOB, Sunday Adeyemo (alias Sunday Igboho) and many other such groups is a response to the present Nigerian administration’s treatment of indigenous ethnic nationalities. The Federal Government can use brutal force to arrest individuals but cannot arrest the people’s agitation, and the will of the people cannot be arrested and suppressed by force. However, negotiation could bring lasting solution.”