Operation python dance, declaration of war against Ndigbo, says EMU
”It Is Not…” Says Army
Eastern Mandate Union (EMU), led by elder statesman, Dr. Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo, has said that Operation Python Dance recently launched in the southeast was part of the ongoing plot by the government to “annihilate” Ndigbo.
Rising from their delegates’ conference, which held in Enugu yesterday, EMU, which reviewed the situation of Ndigbo in the present administration, declared, “this Operation Python Dance is nothing short of a declaration of war against the Igbo nation by the Nigerian government.”
But when contacted on the development, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Nigeria Army Enugu, Col. Sagir Musa, said the “Nigeria Army has clearly addressed such misplaced apprehension,” adding, “We still maintain that position.”
Acting Director of Defence Information, Brig Gen. Rabe Abubakar had earlier explained that Operation Python Dance was not targeted at anybody, stressing: “What we are doing is for the interest of the nation in general and southeast in particular, to curtail the activities of individuals and groups hiding under the banner of freedom of speech to create atmosphere of insecurity in the land.”
In a statement after their meeting signed by Nwankwo, EMU dismissed the reasons given by the Army as “naïve and pedantic,” explaining that there was more to it than meets the ordinary eye, as the code name was not only ominous, but had both spiritual and physical implications.
“It is indeed worrisome that since this government came to power in 2015, over 3,000 people of the southeast and south-south extraction have been murdered in cold blood for no other reason than peacefully demanding an independent state of Biafra or at least for a renegotiated and restructured Nigeria, where our people would have unfettered freedom to externalize their God-given faculties.
“The latest militarization of the southeast and south-south by the Military has once more demonstrated the naivety of the government and its penchant to shed the blood of our people. In truth, this Military assault code-named Operation Python Dance can best be described as criminal and a full declaration of war against our people,” the group said.
EMU maintained that “Ndigbo have largely borne the brunt of the contradictions of Nigeria,” adding, “the genocidal pogrom preceding the civil war, the atrocities committed against our people during the war, the use of starvation to annihilate our people and deliberate plot to shut Ndigbo out of economic relevance are not spontaneous developments but deliberate policies by past leaders to route us out of existence.”
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6 Comments
EMU and its leadership, more grease on your elbow. The fight goes on even though they are going to be many obstacles on the way. Mistakes like the one that happened last and this year are sure to come and go, but do not give up!!!!
This old man Nwankwo wants to be used at his age to stoke the embers of discord and disunity in the country. I wish him luck. However, there is no record of him over the past years trying to address the issue of mismanagement of resources by individual states in the South East, which is actually the crux of the matter as far as i am concerned.
Yes, you can agitate for a better deal from the centre, but it has to be a well coordinated approach that would yield positive result and not the cacophony of disjointed agitations by the IPOB and MASSOB.
The problem with ndi Igbo is that we talk too much with less action. We know where the hatred for the Igbos are truly embedded and such people will always make us look foolish. The dead bodies of the Igbos delight them a lot and they will never condemn such acts of atrocities against the Igbos. That is why an idiot and fool like Alan Fagbohungbe will insult a man capable of feeding his entire family and old enough to be his father. The Igbo leaders should meet IPOB and MASSOB and review their modus vivendi and modus operandi and see how to assist in restructuring their methods. This should not be discussed in the pages of newspapers. Violence should be a last option but there is need to socially disseminate and disembowel the notion of this administration and ensure we are not just crying wolf. Igbos have a very small size in population and land mass and virtually land locked so we must be very careful. We must avoid a war because no nation survives two wars. The second war leads to fight to a finish because a lesson of the first war would have been learnt so this is not advisable here. But fools like Alan should not assume too much because Igbos are really agitated. Please, Alan, remember that Nigeria is not a country but a federation of different entities and it is not compulsory that these entities stay as one. The nation is federated for convenience sake and where any part becomes uncomfortable, that entity should be allowed to separate and i think a referendum is most appropriate. Igbos understand the implications of this decision which include vacating places like Lagos, Kaduna, Abuja etc. If done peacefully, there should be boundaries, Asset sharing, maintenance of some relationship at ambassadorial levels or severance of such relationships where it is unworkable. Note that i did not mention Port harcourt, Benin, Calabar, Asaba or Uyo becase they also have a decision to make. It is time to think. After Brexit, there is now a reference point for the demand for self determination in a peaceful process.
Being old and rich may be your own criteria for deserving respect but for me you earn respect by showing you have a superior argument to my own. We cannot be blinded by rage and fall into fire.
All the components that make up Nigeria have their grouses but we cannot solve the problems by throwing caution to the wind. Let the Igbos take care of their homefront and their real and imagined problem will be history. Call me what you like.
Well you are right their, but you have to understand that the Ibo race is a juvenile tribe before the western insurrection through Christianity and did not have an entrenched well established cultural foundation like the Yorubas and Hausa, so were easily rooted due to its fragmentation in the now questioned federalism. Regardless of this you will appreciate the fact that since the end of the civil war in 1970 with the no victor no vanquished slogan of Gowon, the governance till date have treated the Ibos as vanquished entity. Show me one federal project that is situated in the east, meanwhile Igbema in Imo -state is the first Oil well in Nigeria and Igbema still produces oil till today and the only thing to show is an insulting archaic One storey pigery on Port Harcourt road that is said to be NNPC office, meanwhile Benin that has nothing related to oil has a multi billion NNPC presence. It is true the need to be stronghold conscious.
Is that Ndieke or Nweke dance. Well at least it is not a crocodile or alligator dance. No cause for alarm. It is still an unsanctified expedition. It is unfortunate that the Ibo launched the enroute into Nigerian political system on a hope syndrome, while the other two major tribe launched on a stronghold. Remember stronghold is always upheld than hope which is bondage. Well It is not late for the Ibos to review their goals and objective, vis-a-vis, our continual development of the federal structure of Nigeria, by launching out from a stronghold.
We will review and take appropriate action.