Igbo youths issue 4-day ultimatum to herdsmen to vacate S’East

· Boko Haram now in Southeast, says IPOB Customary Government
· Warn Igbo NASS members against support for grazing bill

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday raised the alarm that fleeing Boko Har­am members chased out of the Northeast zone of the country by the Nigerian Army have infiltrated var­ious parts of the Southeast, disguis­ing as Fulani herdsmen, to rape, maim and decimate Ndigbo, preparatory to their sole agenda of Islamising South­ern Nigeria.
IPOB which said the agenda of the Boko Haram members would fail in the Southeast, advocated forma­tion of special vigilante groups across Igbo land to forestall recurrence of the most horrific attack by the group at Uzo-Uwani, Enugu state, in the early hours of Monday this week.
The call for vigilance came on a day the Igbo youths under the aegis of Ohanaeze Youth Council issued a four-day ultimatum to all violent herdsmen in the Southeast to vacate the zone while another group operat­ing under the name of Igbo Youths Fo­rum also, yesterday, vowed to return fire for fire any other time the mili­tants dare attack any Igbo community.

The Ohanaeze Youth Council, in a statement, warned that “ any violent herdsman who fails to quit Southeast soil on or before Monday next week will have himself to blame”.
The statement was however silent on how the group would identify the violent herdsmen in the zone.
But the intention of the ultima­tum by the youth group appears to of­fend Section 41 of the 1999 Constitu­tion (as amended).

The section provides: “Every citi­zen of Nigeria is entitled to move free­ly throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof and no citizen shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom.”
The group however also warned Igbo members of the National Assem­bly not to support the grazing bill fly­ing around the legislative house.

This is aside the threat that the Ndigbo are planning to boycott con­sumption of beef to run the business of the Fulani herdsmen aground in the Southeast.
But the Chairman of Nkwo-Nne­wi Butchers Asociation, Chief Amobi Nnoruka is urging that instead of con­sidering the option of shunning beef, the better alternative would be for the security agents to wake up to their re­sponsibilities.
Boko Haram now in Southeast –IPOB

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in a statement made available to The AUTHORITY on Saturday yes­terday in Awka through its Media rep­resentative, Chinedu Asuzu, alleged that the suspected Fulani herdsmen who killed about 50 of their kinsmen in Enugu State are Boko Haram mem­bers with the sole agenda of Islamiz­ing Southern Nigeria.
IPOB insisted that the attack at Uzo-Uwani in Enugu state few days ago was the worst and most horrific in Igbo land and advocated for formation of special vigilantes across Igbo land to forestall further occurrence.

The statement read thus: “The attacks by the Islamic fundamental­ists and Boko Haram warriors cam­ouflaged as “Fulani herdsmen” have reached our land.
“Those people killed by the Fula­ni herdsmen were among the claim­ants in the ongoing case between Bi­afra and Nigeria in the Federal High Court Owerri, Suit No FHC/OW/CS/192/2013. They were my clients. The Federal Government with its army and police could not protect our people. It is now necessary that we should protect ourselves.
“Fortunately, the law recogniz­es the use of self-defence against an aggressor and we still have our Cus­tomary Security Personnel called “Ndi Nche” which works under the Su­preme Council of Elders. We should therefore instruct all our able-bodied men and women to join Ndi Nche and defend our land against Boko Har­am. The Umuada of the Igbo Nation should join Ndi Nche and play their historical gallantry role in defending our land.
“The use of Ndi Nche Security Personnel is lawful under the Custom­ary Law. It is equivalent to the Islamic Police called HISBA which operates in the North under the Sharia Law. Both the Sharia Law and Customary Law are recognised by the Nigerian Con­stitution.

“We heard that the Governor of Enugu State had declared a period for fasting and prayer. That is good but not good enough. There is time to pray and time for action. This is the time for action while the prayer-warriors are on their knees. When the Bible says ‘Resist the devil and he will flee from you,’ it means resisting the evil ones. We must resist the evil that has entered into our land both by prayer and by action – fire for fire!
“The LORD Jesus Christ com­manded us to turn the other cheek if slapped on one side of the cheek. We have obeyed Him. They have slapped us on the two cheeks and there is no more cheek remaining to be turned. As the two cheeks have finished, they have slapped us on the face and Jesus did not say we should turn our back. It is now fire for fire; resist the evil and he will flee from you. These murderers are evil and must be resisted.

“Please note that we are not re­sisting the Federal Government of Ni­geria but the Boko Haram Militants camouflaging as Fulani Herdsmen.”
Your Islamisation agenda won’t suc­ceed, IPOB tells herdsmen
IPOB, in a separate statement, yesterday, also told the rampaging Fu­lani herdsmen wreaking havocs in dif­ferent parts of the country especially agrarian Christian communities that their secret agenda to Islamise Nige­ria would not succeed.
This was contained in a press statement released yesterday by IP­OB’s Media and Publicity Officer, Emma Powerful, while reacting to the recent invasion of Nimbo in Uzo- Uwani community by herdsmen.

According to IPOB, the main motive behind the orgy of attacks on Christian-dominated Southern communities by Fulani herdsmen is to destabilise Christians in the affect­ed areas to pave way for full Islamisa­tion of the country.
The pro-Biafra group, howev­er, said that the evil plot would not succeed but advised Christians in the country to be vigilant and unite against the antics of the herdsmen and their sponsors.
His words: “They tried this their Islamisation agenda before during the era of Usman Dan Fodio and Ahmadu Bello, but they did not suc­ceed and they did it again in 1966-1970 when they decided to kill Bia­frans from two years up. We know that they will still fail again.

“To Christians in this country, are you still waiting for the total Islami­sation before you do something? This is the time to take our destiny in our hands before what happened to the Christians in the North Africa and Turkey happens to you.”
IPOB mocked the security oper­atives for their inability to stem the tide of herdsmen menace across the country, wondering why they are not using similar force used against pro­testing Biafran agitators!
“Now, the Hausa/Fulani Boko Haram terrorist group under the guise of herdsmen are killing, raping our women and girls, destroying our farmland and kidnapping our people with impunity on daily basis yet no­body is saying anything because the victims are Biafrans. The DSS will never come up with their concoct­ed intelligence report again. Let the world hear it now,” they stated.

IPOB also criticised a Northern governor for his anti- Christian poli­cies and actions, saying his activities give morale to herdsmen.
“Let them go and see what the governor of Kaduna State is doing to the Christians in that state and their master in Aso Rock is not saying any­thing because it is a strategy to Islam­ise the Biafrans and Christians. While Fulani herdsmen kill hundreds all around the country daily, we remem­ber this tweet from “@elrufai never forget” – anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes.”
Igbo youths issue 4-day ultimatum for violent Fulani herdsmen to va­cate their territory
Also reacting to the killings, the Igbo youths under the aegis of Oha­naeze Youth Council, have issued a four- day ultimatum to all violent herdsmen to vacate the zone.

The National Vice President of OYC, Mazi Obinna Achuonye and the Chairman of OYC in seven Igbo- speaking states, Alex Okemiri, who handed down the ultimatum yester­day in a press release, said that “ any violent herdsman who fails to quit South East soil on or before Monday next week will have himself to blame”.
The youths who were reacting to the recent massacre of Nimbo com­munity folks by the rampaging Fu­lani herdsmen said that “ enough is enough”.
They vowed that “ never again will Igbo youths fold their arms to watch our people being massacred by blood – sucking terrorists under the guise of herdsmen”.

According to the release ob­tained by The AUTHORITY on Sat­urday, the decision to quit all herds­men from the South East zone was reached after an emergency meeting of OYC Worldwide where issues bor­dering on the security of Ndigbo were reviewed.
The release said that the herds­men “are off-shoots of Boko Haram and must not be allowed any breed­ing ground in Igbo land”.
The release said in part : “Urgent times need drastic measure. We warn all violent Fulani herdsmen to vacate our farmland, our backyards, our ter­ritories and boundaries on or before Monday next week.

“Even though Ohanaeze Ndigbo will meet over the weekend to discuss this menace, Igbo youths will not wait until our people are massacred again before we take action.
“If after Monday and the herds­men are still around, we will direct Igbo vigilante groups set up by OYC in all the 95 Local Government Are­as in South East to force them out.”
OYC said it had also uncovered plots through its intelligence unit that Ebonyi State is the next target of the rampaging herdsmen after their at­tack on a border community in Enugu that claimed over 40 lives with scores wounded.

“We have uncovered plots that their next line of action is Ebonyi State because they are moving from boundary to boundary. They are coming from Taraba State to attack Ebonyi. We want the Governor of Eb­onyi State and all the security agents in the state to be at alert.”
Ohanaeze youths said President Muhammadu Buhari should be held responsible should civil war erupt again in Nigeria because of his de­liberate silence and docility over the atrocities of his Fulani kinsmen.

“The United Nations and the Amnesty International should hold Buhari responsible should Nigeria go up in flames as a result of these provocative killings by herdsmen”, he said.
OYC added that Igbo youths are already collaborating with Ijaw youths and Middle Belt youths on how to defend their people as the Federal Government under Buhari has failed to protect them.
“Ijaw youths, and Middle Belt progressives are already waiting for the expiration of the deadline on Monday. Fulani herdsmen have pushed us to the wall. Time to take action is now or never!”
Ohanaeze also warned National Assembly members of Igbo extrac­tion to distance themselves from the proposed “toxic” national grazing bill or face the wrath of Igbo youths.

According to OYC, the bill “is only a ploy by Northern elements to confiscate Southern lands for their commercial interest which we have vowed to vigorously resist”.
The release said Igbo youths in consultations with other Southern and Middle Belt youths are mobiliz­ing to storm the National Assembly to protest the controversial bill.
Ohanaeze further called on South East Governors to be united against herdsmen menace, and to en­courage poultry and fish farming in the zone as alternative source of ani­mal protein, hinting that it is consid­ering a boycott of beef in South East.