The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has decried the effrontery of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), South-East chapter in weighing in on the recent refusal of the South-East Governors’ Forum to surrender parcels of land in their geopolitical zone for cattle ranching. IPOB, speaking through its media and publicity secretary, Mr Emma Powerful, said the press release by MACBAN expressing surprise over the recent decision of the governors smacked of overconfidence and allegedly contained a subtle threat of attack. The group said the reaction by MACBAN over the governors’ decision was utter contempt and a way of ‘speaking the minds of the northern caliphate which the group has come to represent since the coming of the present administration’. IPOB maintained that the decision of the governors was a commendable one. Powerful said in the statement, “The arrogant tone of their (MACBAN’s) statement and implied threat contained therein, against Igbo lives and businesses in the north, points clearly to an impending hostile response from them, which IPOB is both duty and honour bound not to ignore. “We must make it abundantly clear that any attack against Igbo lives and businesses in the north, will be met with commensurate response in the south. Threats and large scale invasions of territories in the Middle-Belt may have had the effect of subduing indigenous Tiv resistance to the Fulani hegemonic juggernaut in the Middle Belt.” IPOB further threatened that any attack on Igbo people and easterners living in the north will mark the beginning of what it called ‘the apocalyptic end of Nigeria’. It said, “The sensible decision of hitherto docile South-East Governors to avoid wholesale breakdown of law and order in their region, through the banning of herdsmen activities, should be applauded by Arewa Consultative Forum, Sokoto Caliphate and all advocates of peaceful coexistence in Nigeria, not derided through the mouthpiece of Fulani terrorists the MACBAN.” IPOB argued that given that 70 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass is in the north, it would be better for ranching and colonies for cattle to be allocated land in the north, instead of coming to the already tiny and landlocked South-East for land. The group called on all South-East and South-South governors not to lose guard as the purported subtle threat by MACBAN should not be taken for granted.
