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Ohanaeze warns Amnesty over Ihejirika,threatens to go to war
Kunle Awosiyan |
Igbo socio-cultural organisation , Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has threatened to prosecute another civil war in Nigeria if the Amnesty International does not stop persecuting and blackmailing the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika.
It made the threat in a press statement made available to Hallmark News, following the call by the Amnesty International to try Ihejirika for extra-judicial killing at International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands.
According to the statement, signed by the National President of Ohanaeze Youth Council, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro “another Ojukwu will go to war” if they try it to sue Ihejirika.
He accused some Northern elements of trying to use the international body to avenge on Southern military top brass who staked their lives in defense of the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
Isiguzoro said, “The last insult Ndigbo can take from those who think they are the owners of Nigeria is to allow them touch Gen. Ihejirika who served his fatherland meritoriously. What Ihejirika and other military personnel who staked their lives fighting Boko Haram deserve is commendation and not politically- motivated prosecution”.
He explained: “Where was amnesty international when Boko Haram fighters were annihilating Christians in Northern Nigeria? Where was Amnesty International when Boko Haram was throwing bombs inside churches, mosques, markets, motor parks etc and killing innocent Nigerians?
“What efforts have amnesty international made to bring sponsors of Boko Haram to book? Or will they claim they did not hear when some people threatened to make Nigeria ungovernable should ex- President Goodluck Jonathan win the 2011 presidential election”.
Ohanaeze accused amnesty international of “bias, hypocrisy and playing double standards”, warning President Buhari to disregard the Amnesty International’s report “if he wants to lead a united Nigeria”.
“Buhari should choose between leading a united Nigeria and supervising the fragmentation of Nigeria”, Ohanaeze fumed, stating, “They killed the Igbo first General, Aguiyi Ironsi and nothing happened but this time around, any attempt to touch another Igbo General will be vigorously resisted with our last drop of blood.”
Ohanaeze queried, “Why did amnesty international close its eyes and seal its lips when youth corps members from the South were being killed in the North after the 2011 presidential election result was announced? Why did amnesty international not call for the prosecution of those who supervised the genocide against Ndigbo before, during and after the civil war?
Ohanaeze said apart from over 1 million Igbo killed during the war, Boko Haram and other religious clashes had claimed over 200, 000 Igbos resident in the North with property worth over N2 trillion .
“Why is amnesty international turning a blind eye to the systematic genocide against Igbos in the North and the gradual annihilation of Middle Belt communities by Fulani cattle rearers?
“That power has returned to the North does not mean that other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria will become slaves. Nobody should use amnesty international to intimidate anybody unless they have agreed that we are tired of this forced union called Nigeria. We cannot become beggars because Jonathan lost election, and we have no regrets making our choices in the last election. South East and South South are integral parts of Nigeria and cannot be treated as slaves”, Isiguzoro said.