A group, under the umbrella of Federalist Movement of Nigeria has stated that members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are decamping to other separatist groups since the court declared it a terrorist group.
The group therefore called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately bring the weight of the law to bear on criminal elements that were hiding under agitation against marginalization to breach the constitution and the extant laws of the land.
FNM made this know via a statement signed by its convener, Emmanuel Ogah.
The group said that the call became imperative following reports that many members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have started migrating to other separatist groups that are becoming virulent and could soon continue acts of aggression from where IPOB stopped before the court ordered that it is a terror group.
Ogah said, the Biafra Zionists Federation (BZF) led by one Benjamin Igwe Onwuka, having been swelled in membership by defecting IPoB members, is now ramping up its purveyance of hate speech and incitement to violence in the fashion of the terrorist group.
He said, “Onwuka, speaking as BZF leader, is calling for attacks on the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) – Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai and the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, including threatening them with trial at the International Criminal Court on a shallow basis.
“Onwuka, who clearly forgot that only those who have wronged the people will go to prison, must be reminded that history would acknowledge Alhaji Lai Mohammed and General Buratai as heroes especially in the way they discharged their sacred responsibility of upholding good governance in Nigeria and by extension in Africa.
“Much as Onwuka’s BZF and other miscreants are angry that the Nigerian Army has tamed them and prevented them from continuing to unleash mayhem on innocent citizens or to continue their regime of criminality, they must realize that no country gives free passes to terrorists, extremists, secessionists and separatists to oppress the law-abiding populations.
“Onwuka, BZF, and other separatists have the penchant for pegging their ill-conceived demand on the notion that they can get other nations to interfere in the affairs of Nigeria. This rabble must therefore be schooled to understand that responsible leaders deal head on with criminality irrespective of the barrage of propaganda and sponsored outcry by criminals and their backers.
“We recommend the words of Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden, the head of counter-terrorism policing in North East England, to the Federal Government, Biafra separatists and terrorists alike. Snwoden said of the arrests: “Those who promote extreme views are looking to divide our communities and spread hatred. This will not be tolerated and those who do so must be brought to justice.”
The group urged the government of Nigerian and it’s military to pay no heed to the threats from those they tagged as misguided elements that think agitation for restructuring or secession confers immunity for breaking the law.