HURIWA faults Ohanaeze, endorses protests
The Indigenous People of Biafra has banned protests against hunger in any South East territory, adding that any Nigerian agent who dares to organise any protest in the South East will regret it.
The pro-Biafran group stated this in a statement issued by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, stressing that the current hardship in Nigeria should be the concern of Nigerians, not Biafrans.
IPOB said anyone who organises any protest against economic hardship in the region would put Ndigbo in danger.
The statement reads in part: “Following the unprecedented hardship in Nigeria, IPOB, ably led by Nnamdi Kanu, hereby cautions the people of Biafra not to join any protest against hunger in Nigeria in any South East territory.
“The current hardship in Nigeria should be the concern of Nigerians, not Biafrans. They are no longer interested in the affairs of Nigeria. Biafrans were abused, intimidated, beaten, and killed, as well as denied voting rights during the election of this current government. Ndigbo were told to wait, and that it was their turn to rule, not the turn of Ndigbo.
SIMILARLY, apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, explained why Ndigbo would not join in the current protests against economic hardship in the country under President Bola Tinubu.
President General of Ohanaeze, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, in an open letter he addressed to Ndigbo worldwide, acknowledged events in the country as disturbing, but urged Igbo to refrain from joining mass action.
He stated that the Igbo don’t have any “personal issues with Tinubu,” and had long accepted him as President of the country, following the pronouncement of the Supreme Court on the outcome of the 2023 general elections.
Iwuanyanwu added that he had received entreaties from parts of the country requesting him to call Igbo to join in demonstration and violent action in the country against the government, but stressed that Igbo would not join in the demonstrations because of the marginalisation being experienced by its people by successive governments of the country.
MEANWHILE, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has carpeted the leadership of Ohanaeze for behaving like people who inhabit outer space; therefore, immune from the austerity measures and the wrong policies of President Bola Tinubu.
The rights group stated that the statement of the leadership of Ohanaeze is patronising, childish and laughable. HURIWA stressed that if there has not been any public protest in the South East against ongoing economic hardships, it is not because the people of the region actively support the poor economic policies being systematically unleashed by Tinubu.
HURIWA also faulted the reasoning of Ohanaeze that seems to be classifying protesters against hardship as those who hate Tinubu, even as the group endorsed the extensive protests in some states of the federation in the North and South West.
