How can Igbos be terrorists - Former minister asks FG to lift ban on IPOB

- Osita Chidoka has urged the Nigerian government to lift the ban on IPOB

- Chidoka said there are no terrorists in the southeast and the people do not feel terrorised

- He advised that designing the IPOB as a terrorist organisation will not secure the unity of Nigeria

Former minister of aviation, Osita Chidoka, has called on the Nigerian government to lift the proscription it placed on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

According to a report by Punch, Osita argued that the proscription and the declaration of IPOB as a terrorist organisation is unnecessary and would not strengthen the unity of Nigeria.

NAIJ.com gathered that Osita, who is currently running for the governorship office in Anambra state, said that the Igbo voice against marginalization and injustice will not be achieved on the streets but by engaging the government.

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He said: “While we salute all those who through one legitimate way or the other had pursued the struggle, we state today that we are stepping into a new frontier. The Igbo voice against marginalization and injustice will not be achieved on the streets.

“It will rather be won with a determined engagement of our institutions of government and with other Nigerians who feel aggrieved to redefine the meaning of Nigeria and remove the inequalities that have fanned the embers of discord and restructure our nation along the lines of justice, equality and fairness.

”How can Igbos be terrorists? We have always actively participated in the Nigerian project, yet in this country, we have suffered since June 1945 British inspired ethnic violence, nineteen incidents of pogroms, wanton killings, and violence against our people living across the country."

Osita, a governorship candidate under the United Progressive Party said there is no form of terrorism in the south east and the people of the region do not feel terrorised at all.

He said: “In March 2015, our country went to an election that divided us greatly. Today the nation is still greatly divided, and almost back to her primordial lines. Our country is troubled; our people are afraid; our future is uncertain.

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“We cannot build a great nation without unity at home. We cannot be a nation where people are hated, branded and then hounded and ostracized.

“We stand here to declare that there are no terrorists in our state; there are no terrorists in our region and we do not feel terrorized as a people.”

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Defence Headquarters has said that it has no business declaring IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, wanted.

This was made known by the director, defence information, Major General John Enenche at a press briefing with journalists on Friday, September 29.

Enenche also informed journalists present at the briefing that Kanu was not in military custody and so they couldn’t be held accountable for him.

Watch NAIJ.com TV video of Nnamdi Kanu's father talking about the activities of his son as IPOB's leader: