IPOB PROSCRIPTION You‘re wrong, Saraki tells S/east govs, Army

 

..Northern govs visit South-east, South-south

..IPOB using fake videos to deceive global community

 

The last has not been heard of the recent proscription and labelling of the Indigenous People of Biafra a terrorist organisation by the South-east governors and the Nigerian Army respectively, with the Senate President Bukola Saraki declaring both positions unconstitutional.

Such declarations, Saraki maintained, would not stand because they were not in tandem with the nation’s due process.

“I am sure the President will do the needful by initiating the right process. This will go a long way in demonstrating to the world that we are a country that operates by laid down process under every circumstance. So, those who have been hammering on this point should maintain their cool,” Saraki stated this in a 10-point statement issued yesterday in Abuja.

The South-east governors and the Army simultaneously proscribed the group and tagged it a terror outfit at the weekend.

These positions, however, came under a heavy hammer by the Senate, as espoused by Senate President Saraki.

The Senate President, who commended the military for their efforts at restoring peace to different parts of the country and sustaining the unity, further urged it to be guided by their training in the face of provocation.

According to him, military training emphasises respect for human rights, even in war situations, adding that given the nature of the situation in the South-east, the military should have been hesitant in the use of force.

He advised the executive to guard against over-stretching the military, saying “we need to protect our military against dissipation of their fighting strength.  This means we need to strengthen the police and equip them with the capacity to deal with civil crisis.

“That is why we in the National Assembly are already reviewing the Police Act and  looking at possibility of enabling other para-military agencies to help curb civil unrest and maintenance of law and order.”

The Senate helmsman also said the National Assembly would embark on a fact-finding investigation to really determine what happened during the military exercise in the region.

This, he said, would enable it have a firsthand information and ascertain who did what, adding that all the facts were not yet known..

He assured Nigerians that there would be no cover-up, as all the facts would be laid bare.

While further calling for calm among all Nigerians and urging them to provide the right solution to the current problem rather than worsening it, Saraki counselled the Igbo to continue to maintain peace and tranquility and go about their lawful business.

He explained that if allowed to continue, the crisis would only expose innocent people to unwarranted danger.

He commended Nigerians in other parts of the country who had worked to ensure that the crisis did not spread beyond the region.

Saraki called for peace and stability to ensure that Nigerians, irrespective of religion, tribe and creed, remain protected and safe under the law.

“It is also important that commentators and purveyors of information on all media platforms should be conscious of the need, at all times, to maintain the unity of the country.

“Therefore, they must refrain from circulating information that has the potential for aggravating the crisis. We should all realise that Nigeria is all we have.  It is therefore in our individual and collective interests not to stoke the fire of crisis and fan the embers of discord through the messages we spread.

“We must all protect and strengthen our country rather than contributing to her collapse and disintegration.  We want to remind Nigerians that the reason for constitution review by the National Assembly was to enable us look into issues that are agitating the minds of Nigerians and creating tension among us.

“We have promised that the exercise will be continuous. We intend to keep that promise by further taking decisions that will strengthen and improve on our structures,” he further said.

He assured that upon resumption, the National Assembly would play its constitutional role by addressing all issues agitating the minds of Nigerians, and called on political, religious and traditional leaders to continue engaging with the people on the need to maintain peace.

Northern govs visit S/S, S/E on truce

 

Meanwhile, five northern governors are in the South-east and South-south on a two-day visit to douse tension and promote peace and dialogue among all sections of Nigeria.

A statement by the spokesperson of the governor of Sokoto state, Imam Imam, said the team is being led by the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima.

Others in the delegation are Governors Aminu Masari of Katsina, Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto, Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi and Simon Lalong of Plateau states.

“The delegation will hold meetings with their counterparts in Rivers, Abia and Imo states. Apart from the visit to political leaderships in those states, the delegation is expected to meet with traditional and religious leaders. They will also confer with Northerners resident in  those states.

“Importantly, the delegation will reassure their counterparts in the South-south and South-east that all Nigerians are free to stay in all parts of the country, especially in the North, and that the entire North stands with the people of South-east in this period of heightened tension.”

Imam who said the visit has President Muhammadu Buhari’s blessings, added that the consultations would continue with all stakeholders so as to enhance unity and peace in Nigeria.

 

IPOB uses fake videos – FG

In a related development, the federal government has accused IPOB of using fake videos of mass killings, harvested from other parts of Africa and doctored to make it current, in order  to mislead the international community and win their support.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this when he addressed online publishers in Lagos yesterday.

“We must warn the nation against IPOB’s next line of action, which is to externalize their lies and propaganda. Now they are writing to the governments and the national parliaments of some Western nations to give the impression that they are victims of an ethno-sectarian violence orchestrated by the government, hence they need protection.

”Some of the tools that have been employed by IPOB include blatant lies and cheap propaganda, and the medium of choice for the organisation is the social media. IPOB has harvested gory videos and pictures from other lands and the distant past, which they are now circulating via the social media, to deceive the international community into believing that the people of the South-east are being subjected to state-sponsored, ethno-religious violence.

“Such videos, which have very high emotive quotient, are circulating on the social media as we speak. These videos are doctored to make them look current. They are fake!”

Mohammed said some ill-informed foreign individuals were already trumpeting IPOB’s lies and propaganda and even alleging genocide, adding: ”It is either they do not understand the meaning of genocide or are being mischievous. Either way, there is nothing like genocide anywhere in our country today.

“What we have in the South-east is a clampdown on a band of lawless people who have no regard for the laws of the land.”

He appealed to the online publishers to help counter the fake narrative on the social media on the situation in the South-east

“’That is why you must distinguish yourselves, as trained and tested professionals, from the charlatans who have seized the social media by the jugular, those who have no regard for the truth and who do not care whether their fake posts set the nation ablaze.”

He reiterated his earlier statement that IPOB was being sponsored by a coalition of politically-disgruntled and treasury looters, and that the organisation was a contraption against the President Muhammadu Buhari administration

 

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