An alleged attempt by government officials to demolish the New Artisan Market was fiercely resisted by the Hausa traders who reportedly used Ak-47 to chase the officials away.
The Hausa traders reportedly seized the Government bulldozer, chased away the police that accompanied members of the Enugu State Capital Territory Development Authority.
The gun wielding traders blocked the NNPC end of the Enugu/Porthacourt expressway stopping vehicular movement just as they set up bunfires along the express.
Meanwhile ,the Chairman of Enugu Capital Territory Authority- Chief Ken Onoh has denied knowledge of any demolition exercise around new Artisan market.
In March 2021, the British Government released on its official Home Office website, a 56 page report in which it shared its thoughts on the Biafran agitation.
The report talked about IPOB, MASSOB, ESN, Nnamdi Kanu, Buhari and his administration. The report also offered Asylum to IPOB and MASSOB members. Excerpts of the report are below
On IPOB being declared a terrorist group: While MASSOB appears not to be banned, IPOB has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
However, both groups have generally acted peacefully in advocating for an independent ‘Biafra’ and been the victims of state violence.
The groups have also used inflammatory rhetoric, including comments in support of violence, and clashed violently with the authorities during demonstrations and protests, resulting in deaths of security force members and damage to property
ESN: In December 2020, IPOB is
reported to have set up the Eastern Security Network (ESN), a militia to counter the rising insecurity in the region. In February 2021, Facebook locked Kanu’s account for violating its rules on harm and hate speech.
The security forces have also alleged that IPOB members have on occasion targeted and killed police officers. Reports of casualties vary, but in October
2020 at least three police officers and six army officers were killed in clashes with IPOB.
It is not clear from the sources consulted whether supporters or members who have been arrested have since been prosecuted or convicted for treason or other offences. Nor do sources provide specific information about the length of or treatment of members or supporters of Biafran groups in detention.
In February 2021 the Nigerian military
launched land and air operations against operatives of the ESN, a militia/vigilante group originally set up to protect the south-eastern region, which IPOB claims marked the beginning of the second Nigeria/Biafra war
MASSOB: MASSOB, since its formation in the late 1990s, has clashed with the security forces. Numerous members have been killed, wounded and arrested –usually during demonstrations.
Over a hundred arrests were made in September 2018, at least 10 in 2019; and, in July 2020, it was reported that
members of MASSOB were arrested following clashes with police. IPOB grew out of MASSOB between 2012 and 2014 and reportedly has a presence outside of Nigeria, including the UK.
There are also reported to be a number of minor Biafran groups but these do not seem to have a significant presence in the country. In recent years, MASSOB has become divided, splitting into several smaller groups and is less active than IPOB.
Both MASSOB and IPOB have largely advocated for peaceful change but on occasions have used rhetoric that may encourage violent resistance.
IPOB in particular, through its online platform, Radio Biafra, and online comments of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has stoked secessionist aspirations and encouraged resistance to the authorities.
Oyigbo(Obigbo): Further clashes and violence occurred between security forces and IPOB in August 2020 in the city of Enugu when police stormed an IPOB meeting and also in October 2020 during confrontations in Rivers State.
These incidents resulted in the arrests and deaths of IPOB supporters as well security force personnel, although there seem to be contradictory reporting on the exact figures.
In November 2020 there were reports that security forces were carrying out revenge killings following the October attacks in the Rivers State area of Oyigbo, these reports were denied by state Governor Nyesom Wike.
Following an attack by IPOB members in Rivers State in October 2020, the governor offered a reward for information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of the IPOB state leader Stanley Mgbere.
CPIT could find no further information in the sources consulted that Mr Mgbere had been located and arrested
Nnamdi Kanu: The IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu reportedly resides in the UK. He is the director of London-based Radio Biafra, an online radio station set up to broadcast the demands of secessionists. Programmes are transmitted daily in English and Igbo.
He had been recruited by MASSOB leader Uwazuruike to run
Radio Biafra in London.
The pair fell out and Kanu later re-emerged as IPOB leader. BBC monitoring also stated:‘The leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu says he is ready to face trials and defend Biafrans at the International Criminal Court
(ICC), against “genocidal” attacks by “killer herdsmen and bandits”. Speaking on a live broadcast on Radio Biafra, he says: “Herdsmen will attack us, rape our women, destroy our farms and kill our farmers nobody
will arrest them but when we try to defend ourselves, the government will come after us rolling out the tanks and using their helicopter gunboats.
If defending our ancestral land against conquest by Fulani supporter of APC invaders will take me to The Hague, I am ready to go to The Hague.
Another major clash between the armed forces and the pro-Biafra activists occurred in October 2015 when the IPOB-leader Kanu was arrested on charges of treason and ethnic incitement.
A wave of street protests and arrests followed. Kanu was released on 25 April 2017. However, on 22 September 2017, soldiers attacked the house where Kanu was staying and killed 28 people in the surroundings. The government denied the claim.
There is currently heavy tension at New Artisan, Enugu State after an alleged attempt by government officials to demolish the New Artisan Market was fiercely resisted by the Hausa traders who reportedly used Ak-47 to chase the officials away, Igbere TV has learnt.
According to report gathered, the Hausa traders seized the Government bulldozer, chased away the police that accompanied members of the Enugu State Capital Territory Development Authority.
The gun wielding traders blocked the NNPC end of the Enugu/Porthacourt expressway stopping vehicular movement just as they set up bunfires along the express.
Are we cursed or are we the cause? This rhetorical question was raised years ago by Mr Peter Obi,former Governor of Anambra State. Yet ,Mr Obi was the State Governor for eight years constructing low quality roads in every part of the State. No wonder, many roads in awka ,nnewi and Onitsha have become dilapidated begging for urgent attention.
It is unfortunate that Public Officers are not held accountable over the quality of works done while in the offices. Billions of naira were spent on these roads that have not lasted for 4 years and billions are budgeted every years for the maintenance. Few days ago ,BVI Channel 1 Reporter was on routine inspection of the environment and what was captured in awka alone is better imagined . Street roads were almost collapsing even as rainfall is still knocking . Sadly, these are roads previously constructed with very low materials at a very high cost. We are not reporting about roads not constructed before as they are many. This is in a place where millions of Graduates are jobless including engineers .It is unfortunate that many Government officials are serving their personal interest at the expenses of better society.
Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has rejected the United Kingdom government’s offer for an asylum for its members, saying that what the group rather needed was referendum.
Rejecting the offer in a statement on Thursday, the pro-Biafra group said it was “an arrangee with President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to divert the attention of the people of Biafra.”
According to the leader of the group, Comrade Uchenna Madu, “It is part of the series of plans, President Muhammadu Buhari hatched with the British government against the emergence of Biafra,” adding “we don’t need British asylum because it is a Greek gift.”
He lamented that “the government of Britain is the sole architecture of the political, economical and religious problems of the people of Biafra in Nigeria even till today. They have not shown any remorse or apologize to the people of Biafra. Britain killed, maimed, mesmerized and wounded our fathers, mothers and brethren through the Hausa/Fulanis. MASSOB reject their asylum gift.
“How can the Chief persecutor of the people of Biafra suddenly turn to be our pacesetter? Britain and Nigeria can no longer deceive the world again concerning the plights of the people of Biafra.
“Our unified resilient, resolutions and unshakable spirit of no surrender will continue to hunt down this geographical expression called Nigeria.
“MASSOB demands for referendum on Biafra not asylum.”
1. The news of the arrest of nine persons in connection with the vicious attack on March 31 at the Isuofia Civic Centre in Aguata Local Government Area on Professor Chukwuma Soludo, erstwhile Central Bank of Nigeria Governor and a leading aspirant in the forthcoming primary election of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as Anambra State prepares to hold a gubernatorial vote on November 6, has gone down well with every Nigerian. The news of the arrests was broken on Wednesday, April 21, to a large cheering gathering at Professor Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, Awka, by Governor Willie Obiano. The nine persons were arrested at different times and in various locations by a combined team of security operatives from the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.
2. News reports on the revelation have tended to create the impression that the governor is enthusiastic to punish the arrested persons, even if it means making them pay the supreme price for not just the attack on the internationally recognized economist and brilliant reformer but also the murder in cold blood of three policemen providing security at the venue of Professor Soludo’s interaction with the youth of his hometown.
3. The reports are not accurate. Governor Obiano spoke about his readiness to make those involved in the heartless attack feel the full weight of the law against the background of the fact that since his assumption of office in March, 2014, he has not signed the death warrant of any convicted person, regardless of the offence committed by the villain.
4. The governor said that he would this time not mind signing the death warrant of each person found guilty of participating in any way in the gratuitous attack on Soludo. The decision to make Soludo attackers feel the full weight of the law is in line with the state administration’s policy that any person who sheds the blood of any Anambra person will be fished out, tried in the appropriate Court of Law and punished accordingly if found guilty. Life is sacred, and anyone who violates this age-old principle of the Igbo people will have himself or herself to blame.
5. Due process has always been followed as an article of faith in the last seven years in Anambra State in accordance with the democratic tradition. Only the courts of the land can legitimately pronounce a person guilty of a crime. Such a person can be punished after the verdict. Governor Obiano, on coming to office in 2014, stopped such reckless official practices as arbitrary and extra judicial killing of young people, as the world saw in the case of dozens of decomposing bodies discovered one morning floating on the Ezu River in Awka North Local Government Area in January, 2013.
6. Anambra State has remained exemplary throughout the country in not just the practice of democracy but also upholding the dignity of the human person and due process. It will continue to uphold this excellent record in all circumstances, including in the determination to make it remain the safest and most peaceful state in Nigeria.
God bless Anambra State, the Light of the Nation.
Signed
C. Don Adinuba
Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment.
The convenient banking services we all enjoy today couldn’t have been possible if not for the uncommon loyalty of Cee Cee Soludo to his country and people. The fact that we print our currencies locally wouldn’t have been possible if not for his care, love and allegiance to his people and country.
As a corollary, Anambra State APGA faithfuls are poised to pick Cee Cee Soludo as their flag bearer for governorship election in Anambra on November 6, 2021 because of his fidelity to the party and the state. Loyalty, care and allegiance are not things we just talk about. They are things we demonstrate through tough and rough personal actions in opportunities which God gifts us to make our society better.
Of course, considering our operating environment, a less loyal person in Soludo’s shoes would have torpedoed the blissful banking services we enjoy for lucre. Yes for lucre, because operators who were benefitting from the system did everything possible to stop the change. Soludo stayed the course for us. And here we are today.
Likewise, APGA is like a second skin to Soludo and there is no doubt he will strive to improve its electoral victories as well as the welfare and well being of its members. When he said he will form a cooperative society for members, he means just that.
This character trait has trailed his private and public life trajectory: loyalty to family, community, country, the world and to causes he believes in, plus audacious searches for Solutions that ultimately enthrone happiness to the greater majority.
Since joining APGA, Soludo has consistently worked for the best interests of the party and Anambra State. The record of electoral victories in his local government and ward has spiralled since his entry. He is not just a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT), he has been entrusted with the headship of a committee that is currently defining the pathways of Anambra’s future particularly with regard to its safety, prosperity and happiness in the next 50 years. His commitment to these undertakings is unparalleled, which hugely demonstrate his loyalty and allegiance to making the state better than it is today.
Over time, Ndi Anambra and APGA faithfuls have noticed these sterling qualities and are clamouring for his leadership after the tenure of Governor Willie Obiano. He has become a political hurricane of sorts, blowing across the nooks and corners of the state.
Now, with the Party’s guidelines and timetable out for the primaries, there is no doubt that Soludo will be rewarded for his loyalty by coming out victorious in the primaries that is primed to be hotly contested, free, fair and credible. He is the face for the victory of the party in the November 6, 2021 governorship election on the solid foundation which Obiano has built. He is the choice of the party and the choice of the people of Anambra for the berth of the most livable, prosperous, safest and happiest Smart Megacity in Africa that will be developed holistically.
Truly, Solution brings happiness and delegates of Solution are poised to make it happen.
The assassination in office two days ago of Gen Idriss Deby, the immediate past dictatorial and autocratic President of Chad since December 1990 should be a big lesson to the remaining and emerging African dictators and autocrats. His shameful and ungodly death in office is also a reminder that more than half of the Africa’s 54 countries are still ravaged by dictatorship and autocracy, forcing their countries into chronic under-development and political and economic instability. In other words, over 27 independent African countries are presently under ‘personality dictatorship’ or ‘structural dictatorship’. The dictatorial Government of the assassinated President Idriss Deby of Chad was a typical example of ‘personality’ dictatorship and naming of his son as his successor and army chief is a typical case of ‘structural’ dictatorship. Presently, twelve African countries are under ‘personality’ dictatorship and over 15 others under ‘structural’ dictatorship.
Understanding ‘Personality’ And ‘Structural’ Dictatorship In Africa
‘Personality dictatorship’ occurs where a presumed elected president overstays his or her conventional maximum office term and ‘structural dictatorship’ occurs where the living dictator structures the ‘constitution’ or political arrangements and decrees to be succeeded by his or her offspring or relative or stooge in the event he or she drops dead in office. The International Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law therefore authoritatively asserts that African Continent is the most dictatorial Continent in the world, followed by the sub-continent of the former Soviet Republics and the sub-continent of the Association of the Southeast Asia. Countries under constitutional or ceremonial monarchies or presidencies and their parliamentary governments are not considered to be under personality and structural dictatorship. The personality and structural dictatorial countries are those with makeshift parliamentary governments or presidencies with sweeping powers including limitless office tenures of over two terms of four or five years with.
Twelve (12) Remaining And Emerging Dictators In Africa
Under this, the longest serving President in Africa is President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea who has been in power since August 1979 (42 years) and has also named his son as Vice President and successor. The second longest serving African President is President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo who militarily came to power in 1979 and left office for the democratically elected President Paschal Lissouba for five years period of 1992 to 1997 after which he staged a bloodless coup in 1997 and has remained in office as “democratic” President till date. President Paul Biya of Cameroon is the third longest serving African President since the resignation of President Amadou Ahidjo on 6th Nov 1982 and has remained in power till date (39 years).
Others are President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President since January 1986 (35 years), President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea, President since 19th May 1993 (28 years), President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, President since 8th May 1999 (22 years), President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Vice President and Army Chief between July 1994 and 2000 and President since 22nd April 2000 (21 years), President Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, President since 5th May 2005 when he succeeded his late father-Gnassigbe Eyadema (16 years) and President Ali Omar Bongo of Gabon, President since 16th Oct 2009 when he succeeded his late father-Omar Bongo (12 years).
The rest are: President Alassane Quattara of Ivory Coast, President since 4th Dec 2010 and an emerging dictator who won a third term in office in Nov 2020 (11 years in office today and 15 years in office by year 2025), President Alpha Conte of Guinea, President since 21st Dec 2010 and an emerging dictator who won his third term in 2020 (11 years in office today and 15 years in office by year 2025) and President Macky Sall of Senegal, President since 2nd April 2012 and an emerging dictator who won another seven year term in Feb 2019 (9 years today and 14 years by 2026).
Seventeen (17) African Countries Under Structural Dictatorship And Instability
They are Angola under Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Chad under Idriss Deby, Libya under Muammar Gadaffi, Egypt under Hosni Mubarak, Sudan under Omar Hassan el-Bashir, Congo DRC under Mobutu Sese Seko and Joseph Kabila, Burundi under Pierre Nkurunziza, Burkina Faso under Blaise Compaore, Central African Republic under Gen Francois Bozize, Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, Gambia under Yahaya Jammeh, Somalia under Said Barre, South Sudan (protracted civil war with Sudan under Omar el-Bashir), Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi, Algeria under Abdelaziz Bouteflika (forced to resign on 2nd April 2019 following weeks of mass protests after ruling Algeria since 27th April 1999), Liberia under Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor and Serra Leone under General Joseph Saidu
The Nigerian Army has deployed its personnel to some Imo State communities to carry out raids, discreet searches and arrests of youths and residents who are suspected to be linked to the Indigenous People of Biafra and its security arm, the Eastern Security Network, According to SaharaReporters, Multiple sources said the military personnel, suspected to be led by the 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, since Sunday have been arresting male residents and youths, particularly in Oguta and Ohaji communities and clamping them into vans and taken to unknown destinations.
“We have been getting distress calls from our relatives and people that the army sent its men to surround communities in Ohaji, Osu, Agwa and Izombe. They have been abducting some male youths
It is an abduction because nobody among those arrested knows his offence, where they are taking him to or is able to communicate to his relatives before he is taken away. The military are forcing them in their vans,” a source stated.
women are among the victims being raided too.
Some of our women who went to farms have not returned since. People from Oguta, Ohaji communities, who have relatives in Owerri town are fleeing, because the army wants to turn our villages into deserts. What is all this search because of IPOB and ESN? Is it by emptying our villages that you arrest IPOB and ESN? Won’t people go to their farms again?” a resident said.
