Notable Igbo personalities, including a foremost lawyer, Prof. Ben
Nwabueze; and a First Republic minister, Chief Mbazuluike Amechi, were
in attendance at the event organised by the Eastern Consultative
Assembly when pro-Biafran activists went on the rampage and manhandled
some of the dignitaries. Following the attack on some prominent Igbo leaders by Biafra agitators
at an event in Enugu last week, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has said the agitators
lack inexperience.
Reacting on Saturday, the spokesman for
Ohanaeze, Uche Achi-Okpaga, advised the Indigenous People of Biafra to
avoid playing into the hands of those who intended to hold Igbo down.
The Ohanaeze spokesman said the group was not in support of the attack on the Igbo elders.
He noted that the Enugu incident was
caused by frustration on the part of the aggrieved youths, a situation
he blamed on the harsh conditions in the country.
Achi-Okpaga said, “The youth would
always behave as such. Now, some sections of the country feel that the
Igbo should not be allowed to rule the country. Instead of distrust
and disrespect, the youth should see beyond their noses that there is a
deliberate and well-orchestrated ploy to downgrade Ndigbo.
“However, our youths remain our
children. No matter the degree of the attacks, they are our children. We
are training them informally. They will soon become leaders or elders
and would, as well, learn to bear with the youthful displays of their
own children.”
But IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful,
said the majority of Igbo leaders were afraid of the North and did not
want to take any action that would offend their alleged northern
benefactors.
In response to enquiries by our
correspondent, the IPOB spokesman said most Igbo leaders were actively
engaged in ‘undermining Igbo interest’.
Powerful said, “These same leaders
never ran to Buhari to send soldiers to stop Fulani herdsmen from
slaughtering our people all over Enugu State. But when it came to IPOB
agitating to free everybody from the bondage, they found the courage to
invite the army to invade Igbo land.”
A leader of the Movement for Actualisation for the Sovereign State of Biafra, Uchenna Madu, in an interview with , explained that moves were being made to ‘mend fences’ with the affected Igbo leaders.
He explained that the agitators, who attacked the Igbo leaders, acted out of provocation.
