Ohanaeze explains why it supports IPOB ban

Chief John Nwodo, the President of the apex Igbo Socio-Cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, says that the group supports the proscription of Biafra secessionist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), by the South-East Governors, because the decision saved lives and doused the explosive tension in Igboland.

He state this in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, at the third inauguration of the state and local government executive committees of the Abia Chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

According to Nwodo, the decision by the governors was a wise step which aligns with their position to save the nation from what would have been a major crisis following the clash between members of IPOB and the Nigerian Army.

Chief Nwodo noted that in Igbo culture, when a father senses danger outside, he chases his children inside the house and lock them until the danger fade away. He noted that; “That was what the governors did and Ohanaeze Ndigbo is happy with the wisdom showed by our governors. I am particularly pleased with the foresight of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for timely imposition of a curfew on the commercial city of Aba. By that singular action, several lives were saved, and it helped to calm the tension down. Governor Ikpeazu, you are a wise man and we are grateful to you.”

He added that without the action taken by the South-East Governors, the South-East region would be covered with blood, saying that the Igbo leaders cannot sit down and watch its youth killed prematurely.

He said that though no Igbo man is happy with their position in Nigeria, agitation for restoration of Biafra was not an Igbo agenda in a quest for a better deal in Nigeria. Nwodo noted that restructuring remains the position of Ndigbo.

“We should forget Biafra and insist on restructuring.” Though he said that there is no Igbo that is happy with the situation of things in Nigeria, he noted that “we must seek for peaceful ways of resolving the issues.”

He insisted that Ohanaeze has nothing personal against Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), but hate speeches and secession is not the way forward for the Igbos.