Police arrest 15 IPOB,

The Ebonyi State Police Command, on Wednesday, confirmed the arrest of 15 members of the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra.   They were arrested at a bush at Amasiri in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday by men of the Nigeria Police and other security agents while allegedly planning to hold their 2019 summit in the state.       The groups’ annual meeting, our correspondent gathered, was scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.    reports that the arrest of members of the separatist groups came 24 hours after the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, insisted that IPOB remained a proscribed organisation and warned residents of the state to shun its activities.      A statement by the command’s spokesperson, Loveth Odah, said, “The Ebonyi State Police Command, in active collaboration with other security agencies in the state, while acting on credible intelligence report that IPOB and MASSOB members would have their 2019 convention in the state, on August 13 and 14, 2019, embarked on a massive show of force covering the entire length and breadth of the state, with particular focus on identified flashpoints.

“The exercise dominated the entire state and frustrated the activities of IPOB and MASSOB members, thereby denying them the opportunity to hold their meeting in the prearranged venue.

“They were, however, traced to a hideout in the bush around the Amasiri community in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state where 15 members, led by one Rev. Ogonna Nnachi, about 70 years of age, were arrested. Items recovered from them include Biafra currency (two pounds), branded Biafra T-shirts, caps and bangles.

“Upon interrogation, their leader, Rev. Ogbonna, narrated that they were planning the burial of one of their members, who died in Lagos but was to be buried in the Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state, and were also planning the building of a monument in honour of the late Odumegwu Ojukwu in Owerri, Imo State. The arrested members were handed over to the SCID for further interrogation and profiling.

“The Ebonyi State Police Command will continue to explore all crime fighting tactics by combing all the hideouts of criminals with a view to denying them the space to carry out their acts.

“The general public is, as usual, enjoined to assist the police and other security agencies by providing credible information on any suspicious activity and movement of persons or goods.

IPOB: Igbo Governors Fooling Themselves, Governor Umahi Wants To Be Tinubu's Presidential Running Mate In 2023

The group also said Igbo governors, from Nigeria's South-east, were "fooling themselves".

“Dave Umahi’s desperate attempt to turn our beloved Ebonyi State into another vassal state is dead on arrival.

“IPOB is on the ground and will never allow it. If his ‘Alice in Wonderland’ dream of becoming Bola Tinubu’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election is his motivation for coming out against IPOB at this critical moment in our history, then he is not only misguided but deluded," the secessionist organization said in a statement on Tuesday.

Its spokesman, Emma Powerful, pointed out that it was not the first time Umahi had sought to "impress his masters by making grand declarations" against IPOB.

“Sometime in mid-2017 he issued a fatwa against our leader and boasted that IPOB’s rallies would never hold in Ebonyi State,” Powerful claimed.

“How many Fulani governors have come out against herdsmen or Boko Haram? Yet Igbo governors keep on making a complete fool of themselves by attacking IPOB."  The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has described Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi as deluded and misguided in proscribing the group in the hope that he will be picked as the presidential running mate of Bola Tinubu in 2023.

BIAFRA SAY You can’t suppress us, IPOB tells Umahi Published August 14, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxsT2HBO1bw

The state government on Monday banned all activities involving the separatist group in the state, insisting  IPOB was a proscribed organisation.  The Indigenous People of Biafra on Tuesday criticised  Ebonyi State  Governor Dave Umahi for allegedly suppressing the group.   But in a statement by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group said the state government had no capacity to suppress them.   The group alleged that Umahi was against them because the ruling All Progressives Congress had promised to make him their vice-presidential candidate for the   

2023 presidential poll.

The statement read in part, “Dave Umahi’s desperate attempt to turn our beloved Ebonyi State into another vassal state is dead on arrival.

“IPOB is on the ground and will never allow it. If his ‘Alice in Wonderland’ dream of becoming Bola Tinubu’s running mate in the 2023  presidential election is his motivation for coming out against IPOB at this critical moment in our history, then he is not only misguided but deluded.

“We note that this is not the first time Dave Umahi has sought to impress his masters by making grand declarations against IPOB.  Sometime in mid-2017 he issued a Fatwa against our leader and boasted that IPOB’s  rallies would never hold in Ebonyi State.”

The group added, “How many Fulani governors have come out against herdsmen or Boko Haram? Yet Igbo governors keep on making a complete fool of themselves by attacking IPOB.” 

I remains a proscribed group, says Ebonyi

The group a week ago protested in Abakaliki against the suspended  Ruga settlement policy for herdsmen and other policies of Federal Government.   The Ebonyi State Government insists the Indigenous People of Biafra remains an unlawful organisation and warned the group against organising any activity in the state.  In a statement on Monday by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Kenneth Ugbala, and the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Chief Kenneth Uhuo, the state government advised parents and guardians not to allow their children and wards to engage in any unauthorised gathering.

According to the state government, the security agencies have been told to deal with any individual or group found to be involved in any unlawful gathering in the state.

The statement said all Igbo’s grievances would be addressed if they discussed peacefully with the Federal Government.

The state government said any individual or group in the state having any genuine reason to protest should do so through the  South-East Governors’ Forum and Ohanaeze Ndigbo.  

The statement read, ”The attention of the general public is hereby drawn to the  Federal High Court order, which has proscribed the Indigenous People of Biafra since September 2017 and classified it as a terrorist organisation in Nigeria.

“By that order, IPOB has become an unlawful organisation and all its activities become criminal within the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act of 2011. mbers of the public are therefore warned that any participation in the activities of the organisation, under whatever guise has become an offence punishable under various laws of the country.”

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IPOB Why God won’t hear your prayers yet – Fani-Kayode tells Gowon

The former Minister conveyed this in a statement he signed on Monday, adding that 300 Igbo army officers, including an Igbo Head of State, were murdered on July 29th, 1966 by northern army officers.

   Former Minister of Aviation and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has told former Military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, that the various prayer sessions he is conducting would be wasted if he (Gowon) does not apologise to the Igbos over the genocide against them during the 1966 Civil War.  

  He also reminded the war lord that 30,000 innocent and defenceless Igbo civilians were slaughtered between September and December 1966 by savage and barbaric northern mobs in three separate pogroms in the north before the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war.

“Finally 3 million innocent and defenceless Igbo civilians, including one million children, were targeted and butchered by the Nigerian Army and the northern ‘Gwodo-Gwodo’ auxiliaries and militias during the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970.

“General Yakubu Gowon can conduct all the prayer sessions that he wants for Nigeria but until he acknowledges the fact that the genocide that the Igbo people were subjected to under his watch between 1966 and 1970 was unacceptable and until he appeals to the Igbo nation to forgive Nigeria for what we did to them, things will get from bad to worse.

“Though it is unknown to most, our nation has been afflicted with a deep spiritual wound which was inflicted as a consequence of our barbaric actions over the years and particularly before and during the civil war. This is a spiritual matter and sadly and regrettably we see its consequences unfolding in the physical realm before our very eyes every day.

“The shedding of innocent blood always results in divine retribution and it goes from generation to generation. Unless remorse is displayed, forgiveness sought and national repentance is established the cycle of divine retribution and judgement will continue unabated and affect the lives of millions.

“The civil war “Gwodo-Gwodo” militias, made up of savage, bloodthirsty, heartless, godless, dark and evil men from Chad, Niger Republic, Mali and parts of north-western Nigeria are the spiritual forefathers and the same dark forces that have resurrected as terrorist and killer herdsmen that are slaughtering our people ALL over the country today.

“The whole thing has come back to torment and haunt us and only God can deliver us from their hand. The fastest way to make your nation the land of the accursed and rejected is by continuously shedding innocent blood and showing no remorse for it.

“We must recognise and accept this, we must endavour to stop the violence and killings, we must beg God and our victims for forgiveness and we must do the right thing. Anything short of that will not put us on the road to redemption and restoration. May God open our eyes to see and accept these harsh realities and may He guide, help and lead us in all our endeavours.”

The PDP chieftain said Nigerians needed to ask the Lord for forgiveness for what they did and what they were still doing to the Igbo nation if they really wanted to be restored to the great and prosperous nation and people that they once were.

Bayelsa guber: What Goodluck Jonathan told Aspirant Okara

Jonathan said this when Okara visited him at his Yenagoa residence on Wednesday night, to formally inform him of his desire to run for the office of governor in the Nov. 16 election.   

Former President, Goodluck Jonathan has urged a Bayelsa governorship aspirant, Kemela Okara, to bring to bear his wealth of experience if elected as governor in the November gubernatorial election.       The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the primaries for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will hold on September 3, while the gubernatorial election will hold on November 16.

The visit by Okara to Jonathan was part of his statewide consultations with critical stakeholders in Bayelsa ahead of the gubernatorial election.

Jonathan, who is the immediate past president of Nigeria, expressed confidence in Okara’s capabilities as a two-time Commissioner for Trade Industry and Investments and former SSG, to run the state competently.

“As the immediate past secretary to the state government and from your exposure as a lawyer in Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the nation, I expect you to perform well as a governor.

“Just know that my doors are open anytime you wish to see me for counsel and consultations,” the former president said.

Earlier, Okara thanked Jonathan for finding time to host him and his entourage amid his busy schedule.

“Your Excellency, there is no way that I will not seek your blessings as I strive to run for the office of the governor.

“I came to you because of your wealth of experience and rich political pedigree.

“It is for this singular reason that I have come to inform you of my desire to contest for the office of the governor of Bayelsa State and for your blessing,” Okara said.

Bayelsa guber: You are ‘push and start president’ – APC chieftain fires back at Jonathan

Nabena stated this in reaction to remark credited to Jonathan that APC in Bayelsa State lacked political presence at the wards, local government and state levels to win the state governorship election slated for November 16.   Yekini Nabena, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Thursday, described former Goodluck Jonathan as a “push and start president” who never won any election in his home state of Bayelsa.     Speaking during the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Elders’ Advisory Council meeting at Government House, Yenagoa, Jonathan had said a large number of governorship aspirants on the platform of the PDP indicated the dominance of the party as the preferred platform for election.

However, Nabena, while speaking with reporters in Abuja, cautioned Jonathan against making misguided comments.

Nabena said: “Jonathan is attempting to rewrite history on presidential elections conducted under his watch in Bayelsa state while he was president. He never won as votes never counted. Aided by security agents, election results were simply announced by the election body in favour of the PDP.

“Former President Goodluck Jonathan even lost in his senatorial zone in the last 2019 National Assembly election won by the APC candidate. So, one wonders the party Jonathan was referring to as not being on ground in Bayelsa state, he was a push and start president.

“The media will recall that under Governor Seriake Dickson’s watch, 63 Smart Card Readers belonging to INEC were stolen and later retrieved. Also, I had earlier called on the Inspector General of Police to proscribe the state-controlled security outfit, Operation Doo Akpo following security reports indicating that the state government was plotting violence by flooding the state with arms ahead of the 2019 polls. That threat is still active as Bayelsa state prepares for the governorship election.

“It is clear that no amount of falsehood and rigging can stop PDP’s imminent defeat in the forthcoming governorship election. The PDP has become very unpopular and stands rejected in Bayelsa state.”