Ohaneze cautions IPOB against disrupting proposed Igbo summit

• Why leaders don’t support Biafra
• Nine Jewish worshippers file bail application in Abia

The socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo has cautioned the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) against disrupting the proposed Igbo Summit.The President of the group in Anambra State, Demian Okeke Ogene, stated this in an interview yesterday in Awka.

According to him, Ohaneze Ndigbo stands as a father figure as the Igbo culture dictates.He explained: “Ohaneze Ndigbo is the father and, therefore, the owner of Igbo land for which reason it is its responsibility to dictate what happens in Igbo land.

The group is organising the planned Igbo Summit on May 21, in Awka, to debate issues relating to the restructuring of Nigeria.He said: “The IPOB is entitled to organising it’s own summit, in line with democratic process, instead of threatening to disrupt the plan by other groups.He added that Ohaneze Ndigbo believes in one Nigeria where equity, fairness and justice reign.

Ogene explained that restructuring is not peculiar to Igbo land, adding that Ohaneze was only trying to accommodate everybody, without religious or ethnic colouration.“When you talk about Biafra land, Igbo culture comes in. And between father and son, who owns the land? It is not disputable that Ohaneze Ndigbo is the father of Igbo nation.

“In Igbo land a threat to one’s father should be considered suicidal. They are our children,” he said.He however noted that it is the President -General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, John Nwodo that would make final pronouncement on the summit.

Meanwhile, the Biafra Zionists Federation (BZF) has disclosed that it would declare the independence of Biafra on May 30.Leader of the Zionists Federation, Benjamin Onwuka, told journalists in Enugu yesterday that there was no going back on the Biafra declaration.

It blamed the compromise and collusion of Igbo leaders with the Nigerian authorities as the bane of the Biafra realisation.He lamented that greed and the fear of prosecution had pushed Igbo leaders into accepting whatever comes out of Nigeria. He urged the Enugu State government to “vacate office before that day,” adding: “We have the support of the United States of America in doing what we are doing. Meanwhile, the nine Jewish worshippers arrested last week in Umuahia have filed application for bail at the state High Court in Abia.

They are seeking an order to grant them bail, including other rulings that the court may deem fit and proper to make in the circumstances.Their bail application was stated to have been brought under section 35 (4) (a) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, section 118 (1) 123 and 125 of the Criminal Procedure Act and Inherent Jurisdiction of the Court.In the affidavit by Elder Ifeanyi Nwafor, one of the co accused/applicants supported his submission with a 10-paragraph affidavit.