Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has stated that current President
\nMuhammadu Buhari should sit down with Kanu to discuss the IPOB leader\u2019s
\ngrievances.<\/p>\n
Obasanjo said the army\u2019s \u201cheavy boot\u201d response to pro-Biafra sentiment is
\n\u201cnot the solution\u201d but adds that the secession craved by IPOB is not the
\nway forward either.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to satisfy the youth in job creation, in wealth creation, in
\ngiving them a better, fulfilled life, in giving them hope for the future.
\nThere\u2019s no easy way out,\u201d Obasanjo said.<\/p>\n
The call came as Nigeria designated a secessionist movement calling for an
\nindependent state of Biafra, a republic that existed in the 1960s and
\nwitnessed a deadly civil war, as a terrorist organization.<\/p>\n
Nigerian defense spokesman Major General John Enenche said on Friday that
\nthe Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Nnamdi Kanu, had formed a
\nsecret militia, used weapons, and extorted money from civilians at illegal
\nroad blocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe claim by IPOB actors that the organization is non-violent is not
\ntrue,\u201d said Enenche in a statement.<\/p>\n
Nigerian security forces have regularly clashed with IPOB members since
\nKanu was detained in October 2015. Kanu, a British-Nigerian dual national,
\nwas held for almost two years without trial before being released on bail
\nin April. He is facing trial for treason.<\/p>\n
IPOB members have accused the military of violently disrupting their
\ndemonstrations, while security forces have alleged that the secessionists
\nhave used violence.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian military statement added that IPOB had claimed to have formed
\na \u201cBiafra National Guard,\u201d illegally blocked public roads, and physically
\nconfronted and attacked troops earlier this week in the southeast Abia
\nstate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Armed Forces of Nigeria wishes to confirm to the general public that
\nIPOB from all intent, plan and purpose as analyzed, is a militant
\nterrorist organization,\u201d said the statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore parents and particularly unsuspecting residents of the
\nsoutheast and other Nigerians should advise their wards to desist from
\njoining the group.\u201d
\nEmma Nmezu, an IPOB spokesman based in the U.K., tells Newsweek that the
\ndesignation is a \u201csalacious fabrication.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have said that to justify the killings of unarmed people,\u201d says Nmezu.<\/p>\n
“How can a group become terrorists when they don\u2019t have guns, they don\u2019t
\nhave ammunition, they\u2019ve never killed a single soul\u2014how could that be, is
\nit justifiable? They are just talking rubbish, absolute nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biafra existed as an independent republic between 1967 and 1970. Its
\ndeclaration of independence, led by ex-Nigerian military officer Odumegwu
\nOjukwu, prompted a civil war with the Nigerian state. At least 1 million
\npeople died in the war, many due to starvation after the Nigerian military
\nblockaded Biafra\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n
It was subsumed back into Nigeria after its forces surrendered in 1970 but
\nsecessionist sentiment has persisted in Nigeria, a country that is sharply
\ndivided among ethnic and religious lines.<\/p>\n
Biafra was populated by the largely Christian Igbo ethnic group, who are
\nconcentrated in southeast Nigeria. The Igbo is one of three major
\nethnicities in the West African country. The others are the Yoruba in the
\nwest and the Hausa-Fulani in the north.<\/p>\n
A coalition of northern youth groups issued a notice in June instructing
\nall Igbos to leave northern Nigeria and return to the southeast. The
\nfederal government dismissed the notice and advised Igbos not to worry,
\nbut it highlighted abiding ethnic tensions in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Nigerian security forces clashed with IPOB members earlier this week in
\nAbia state, where Kanu is currently living. IPOB accused the military of
\nsurrounding Kanu\u2019s house and killing several of his supporters, but the
\nmilitary denied the allegations and said IPOB activists had pelted patrol
\nvehicles with stones.
\nThe former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, told Newsweek that
\ncurrent President Muhammadu Buhari should sit down with Kanu to discuss
\nthe IPOB leader\u2019s grievances.<\/p>\n
Kanu\u2019s wife, Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, who is based in the U.K., tells Newsweek
\nthat her husband would be willing to meet with the president if the offer
\nwas made.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsn\u2019t that why people raise issues? I am raising a concern because I want
\nyou to look at it and listen to it,\u201d says Okwu-Kanu, who last saw her
\nhusband in August. \u201cIf Buhari would ask for a roundtable discussion\u2014that
\nis what he ought to have done a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Buhari, who served as an officer in the Nigerian military during
\nthe Biafran war, has rarely spoken directly on the recent secessionist
\nuprisings.
\nAfter returning to Nigeria in August after more than 100 days on medical
\nleave, Buhari said that some Nigerians have \u201ccrossed our national red
\nlines by daring to question our collective existence as a nation,\u201d in
\ncomments that were widely interpreted as a warning to pro-Biafra
\nseparatists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has stated that current President Muhammadu Buhari should sit down with Kanu to discuss the IPOB leader\u2019s grievances. Obasanjo said the army\u2019s \u201cheavy boot\u201d response to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n