JOE Igbokwe, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, has reacted to the threat by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, to stop him from setting his foot in Igboland following his incessant anti-Biafra comments.
The group was reacting to the statement credited to Igbokwe where he urged Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the group, to quietly go home after securing his bail condition and stop what he called “the hopeless agitation for the realisation of Biafra.”
Igbokwe had said, “Now that he has been granted bail, he should just quietly go home and rest. We are not a candidate of Biafra. They are just dissipating their energy for nothing. I just hope he will just go home quietly and stop disturbing the peace of the country.
“We are not for Biafra. We can’t build Nigeria for others. The so-called Biafra is too small for us. Nigeria provides a big stage for us. We own this country.
“We are a major ethnic group in this country. How can you go for a small pond when you have Atlantic Ocean?”
“So Nnamdi Kanu should go home quietly. He should stop his reckless and stupid agitation. The agitation has no political or economic sense. It is a hopeless agitation that we are not interested in.
“They are just using it to make money from gullible ones. It is a collection of illiterates.”
While reacting, a frontline member of IPOB, Kanayo Nwogwugwu in a chat with Independent Newspaper, pointed out clearly that the group and the entire Igbo race had had enough of Igbokwe’s “thoughtless and reckless statement aimed at pleasing his paymasters in the Southwest.”
According to him, “The likes of Igbokwe should bury his head in shame for describing the Biafra project as hopeless and IPOB supporters as collection of illiterates.
“He should watch the television and read the dailies to see how prominent Igbo leaders, including children are celebrating his bail.
“If he doesn’t rein in his caustic tongue, we may be forced to restrict him to his new found land and banish him from setting foot his foot again on Igboland.”
Igbokwe who responded, said as a prince, they are the ones who bannish people and not the other way round also affirmed that freedom of speech as at the last time he checked was still sacrosanct as enshrined in the country.
The Lagos State publicity secretary of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, in a short update on his Facebook timeline with the caption “To my Brothers and Sisters in IPOB” said, “I am a prince in Nnewi with royal blood flowing in me. We are the ones who banish people. The last time I checked I still discovered that freedom of speech and freedom of expression are still sacrosanct in Nigeria. HISTORY IS MY WITNESS!”
