- The minister of information, Lai Mohammed, has disclosed that the army had to be deployed against IPOB because the pro-Biafra group engaged in terrorist activities
- The minster stated that where any group crosses the line by engaging in violence, it risks being cut to size; and that’s what happened to IPOB
- According to Mohammed, no government in the world would tolerate IPOB’s activities, and no Army would look away when attacked by a band of thugs
Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, has stated that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had crossed the line by becoming violent with its agitation and engaging in terrorist activities.
According to reports, the minister made his comments in a chat with newsmen at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday, September 20.
READ ALSO: Why Buhari left IPOB out of his UN speech - Rotimi Akeredolu
NAIJ.com notes that while Mohammed acknowledged the rights of groups to seek self-determination, he stated that it must be done non-violently.
In his words: “Let me state clearly that it is within the rights of individuals or groups to seek self-determination. But this pursuit has to be non-violent.
“Where any group crosses the line by engaging in violence, it risks being cut to size. And that’s exactly what has happened to IPOB.
“I am not interested in the semantics or legality of troop deployment or the proscription of IPOB.
“All I know is that IPOB has engaged in terrorist activities; setting up parallel military and paramilitary organizations, clashing with the national army and attempting to seize rifles from soldiers, using weapons such as machetes, Molotov cocktails and sticks and mounting roadblocks to extort money from people, among others.
“To those who have engaged in semantics or legality, I ask: Which country in the world will tolerate those activities I have listed above?
“Which national army will look the other way when it is being attacked by a band of thugs?”
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Federal High Court in Abuja granted an order declaring the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organisation.
The court proscribed the existence of the group all over the country especially in the south east, declaring its activities as 'acts of terrorism and illegality'.
Watch this NAIJ.com TV video of Nigerians reacting to news of the Biafra Secret Service inaugurated by Nnamdi Kanu
Source: Naij.com
ROSY CREST
Wednesday, 20 September 2017