Breaking: South East Governors meet IPOB leader, Kanu, as Ohanaeze parleys MASSOB

From; Madu Ezenoha, Enugu

A crucial parley between the South East governors and the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), took place on Wednesday at Government House Enugu.

The South East governors told the IPOB leader that the group’s demands must not be absolute.

The Forum also promised to engage the entire leadership of IPOB in a dialogue to address their demands.

The meeting which commenced around 2pm ended by 4.30pm.

IPOB leader, Kanu arrived Enugu Government House around 1.30pm in company of foremost constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, who is also the leader of Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT); and Evang. Eliot Ugochukwu Uko, deputy secretary of ILT.

Chairman of South East Governors Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Dave Umahi; Enugu State Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; and Anambra Deputy Governor, Dr. Nkem Okeke were present at the meeting.

Imo and Abia governors; Rochas Okorocha and Okezie Ikpeazu were said to be outside the county.

Umahi who read the communiqué after the meeting said, “The meeting agreed that the demands by IPOB should not be absolute rather the South East Governors shall immediately engage the leader of IPOB, Prince Nnamdi Kanu and the entire leadership of IPOB to further meetings and dialogue with a view to quickening the resolutions of all issues amicably.”

The meeting with the IPOB leader may not be unconnected with the recent move by the Federal Government to re-arrest him on alleged violation of his bail condition over his treasonable felony trial.

Kanu is agitating for a Biafran state made up of people of the South East and South South geo-political zones of the country to be carved out of Nigeria.

The meeting is coming on the heels of a similar  meeting between Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the leaders of one of the
pro-Biafra groups, Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) on Tuesday also in Enugu.

The meeting was expected to explore possible ways of fine tuning the group’s agitation for self determination.

The MASSOB delegation led by its leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu after the meeting at Ohanaeze secretariat Enugu told journalists that the group had a useful discussion with “our fathers”, but insisted that there was no
going back on the agitation for Biafra.

Madu described the meeting which lasted for about three hours as “a successful family meeting like father and their children”, and the first of its kind by any Ohanaeze leadership.

Although Ohanaeze declined to speak to the press about the outcome of the parley, Madu said, “They (Ohanaeze) believe in restructuring actually; we believe in self determination, let every player play his
own wing. What we need is to score the goal. We have to work like a team. We believe in Biafra, we want Biafra, they believe in restructuring of Nigeria to better Ndigbo in Nigeria but we want Biafra; but at the long run something must happen.

“Nothing can stop the agitation for Biafra, if they like let them restructure Nigeria, even if Buhari resigns today and Igbo man becomes the president the agitation continues.

“And I want to say it here that we are non violent, the Biafran security services established by IPOB is not a threat to Nigerian security. We have a Sharia security called Hisba in the northern Nigeria with their uniform, armed; the Fulani herdsmen are also terrorists walking freely in our land killing people.

“For the past 18 years of the struggle there is no record of any agitator killing somebody. Even in the next one or ten years until when Biafra will be realized we will not kill anybody. The thing is that the northern Nigeria are always jittery when we come together, when they see Ndigbo coming together, forming an alliance to work like a family, they become jittery and we will continue to come together.
Today, can’t you see? The fathers and their children are coming together for the interest of Ndigbo and we will continue to forge ahead,” he said.