MY UNCHANGING STAND ON THE IPOB, ESN AND THE EVILS OF UNKNOWN GUNMEN. Written by KEMKA S. IBEJI

I am unapologetic to the world on my biases towards the consciousness of Biafra and the pursuit of her dreams as a people. I say this as an Igbo son whose life, at one point or the other, has been touched and affected by the idea of Biafra. Along my genealogy, fathers, uncles, aunties, brothers and sisters were killed, raped, dehumanised, humiliated, subjugated and rendered to the earth in ignominy by the reality of the Civil War - the Biafran War.

Every Igbo son or daughter has something to say about Biafra, good or bad. We grew to have our identity shaped and woven around the happenings and activities of the Biafran people who were massacred by Nigerian soldiers during that war. We were told that a few soldiers, in their actions, killed people and fellow Nigerian citizens who were in the hold of political power. The Nigerian government and people turned around to blame it on a race - the entire Igbo people in the world. They moved out for destruction and annihilation of the tribe and it ran for 30 solid months.

In that onslaught, many atrocities were committed in and from both camps. Nevertheless, the end was called after many bad deeds were already done. It all got worse by the participation of the United Kingdom - Britain. We read that they ensured that peace was not served from the earliest possible time. They pushed the war on Nigeria and Biafra and it reigned for 3 years while the blood of innocent people of Igbo land who were unconnected to the military practices and malpractices painted the streets, roads, bushes and fertilised our minds to what it is today - my sympathies to Biafra. Do not blame me!

However, Biafra has come through many alterations and mutations. The earliest proponents at a point made clarifications as to what it he turned into. New Biafrans however have what it means to them. Scholars and readers from the igbo land also have a meaning for Biafra. Biafra has come to mean many things to many Igbo people across the world today.

In my research, I could find out the reason for Biafra which centres around bad leadership, untrue and unjust relationship style of the constituent aspects. This fact is realised in the speeches of all agitators. This is true! If the government of Nigeria gets fair, equitable and good today, all agitations will die.

But in the various ages and pursuit of Biafra, there has been something unique. The first started with war - the Biafran War. It ended in defeat for the Biafrans though proclaimed "No victor, no vanquished". The rise of the agitation of Biafra in the 1990s became fashionable because of deceit and rejection. The triadic cliché upon which the war was downed was abandoned and trashed. Reconstruction, Reconciliation and Rehabilitation was indeed a scam.

This renascent Biafra raged and birthed MASSOB - the Movement of the Sovereign State of Biafra. They ran their agitation on the philosophy of nonviolent revolution. Their style was largely sewed in the patterns of Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi. They help their peaceful protests, demonstrated and made their views known to the world. They did all that without any harm or injury to anyone. We heard them loud and clear.

The government of Nigeria, instead of running a knowledge system to engage these folks and resolve whatever problems they talked about, was killing them. The government was inhuman and inappropriately unapproachable. The government went on murdering these young people who were protesting peacefully and harmlessly. Each time many deaths were recorded, it made them more poised and determined. This killings, abductions, hostage taking, and terrorism continued by the government actors and no ear was given to these young people.

MASSOB grew in bounds and wings and a lot arms sprouted and now blossom. One of such offshoots is IPOB - the Indigenous People Of Biafra. This group also started off with the nonviolent systems of agitation but we could find the possibility of going violent in them. They kept shouting that their men were being killed without any justifiable reason. The government and the entire world kept silent. IPOB kept crying and no one listened.

During this period, there was a growing threat in the land brewing terrorism. This group was gradually building up arms and was intensely violent. They kidnapped innocent citizens, bombed public places, killed innocent citizens and even government officials. They were in the North and because they were Northerners, the government kept mute. Instead of stopping this criminal terrorist group called Boko Haram, the government looked the other way and even funded them through amnesty packages, negotiations, ransom payments, gratuities and more incentives. This was dramatically different from what happened to the peaceful, nonviolent and law abiding IPOB in the Eastern part of Nigeria.

This inequality grew and turned into the old war. It became clear to everyone that the Biafran War which was declared ended in 1970 was still on but fought from only one front - the Nigerian front. This is in bad taste. This planted the sympathy for IPOB grew within the Igbo people.

While the killings of the innocent, nonviolent and lawful IPOB continued in the East, the Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations in the North wear granted state recognition and somewhat legitimate status. This also grew the tendencies of IPOB to get violent and protect themselves against the terrorist state actors. Nigeria for the Igbo people, by their actions against the IPOB and for the Boko Haram, was clearly a terrorist state. The sympathy kept being fertilised by these experiences. Sadly!

The big twist arose when on 20th of October, 2020, the Federal Government under the leadership of the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the Nigerian porridge of Armed Forces to shoot at sight the innocent youths who were demonstrating peacefully against the wrongs in the government of the day. The youths started their peaceful protest against an arm of the Nigerian Police called SARS - Special Anti Robbery Squad. Though the idea that guided the creation of that unit was noble, the agents and personnel went overboard in their exercise of duties and power. They, instead of halting crimes and criminalities, turned draconian and in some places became the real criminals themselves.

So while the youths protested, a lot of things happened as the government first unleashed hoodlums on them which failed. The government thereafter launched a full military assault on the common and unarmed citizens - the young population of the country. This demonstration was dubbed #EndSARS and it trended across the world. When the government got offensive, the youths reclined but other aspects of the youth population and especially the IPOB moved from nonviolence to violence having been energised by the folly of the government in that session and their perceived weaknesses. The IPOB capitalised on the harshness of the government against them, their acceptance of the terrorists in the North and the gaps created by the EndSars to transform itself. During this period, they joined forces to pull down government facilities and especially their perceived enemies, the Nigerian Police. They ran out, besieged the police locations, sacked them and confiscated their weapons. Through this means, IPOB raised arms and went on now in full blown violence.

It also must not be forgotten that there was visible presence of the enablers of the terrorists moving down from the North to the East. While this movement was going on, the attention of the government was called but, as usual, the government did not got give any attention. The threats grew more in the East and fears mounted. While this was on, certain news was spreading of imminent attacks on the Igbo people by the terrorists coming in. Several statements ran across the country while the government was mute. Instead of finding a way to forestall the outbreak of violence and the harm to law and other order, the government merely got stern in IPOB and quickly declared and gazetted them as a terrorist organisation. As this was clearly untrue and mischievous, the Western governments ignored Nigeria and allowed IPOB a legitimate status in their countries. It now was only in Nigeria that you see IPOB as unlawful while they were legitimate and lawful organisations across the world. This also grew the sympathy of Igbo people towards IPOB the more. This is more so as IPOB were declared terrorists while the brazenly murderous Boko Haram were being pampered and incentivised to kill, maim, murder and destroy citizens, farmers and annihilate communities across the country.

IPOB clearly grew and established and armed arm called the ESN - Eastern Security Network. Their major goal at this point was to secure the East and Igbo people from the intruding killer herdsmen whose stock in trade was kidnappings, hostage taking, abduction, assassinations and murder. Unfortunately, things went out of hand and other criminal groups joined the music. This happened in such manner that it is now very difficult to differentiate between IPOB, ESN and the criminals known as the Unknown Gunmen (UGM).

Due to the infiltration of the South East by these terrible terrorist groups called the UGM, my kinds in the South-East have kept calling the IPOB and ESN to quickly stop or change their approach. While we do not encourage their violent turn, we recognise that the Nigerian government of the day indirectly empowered them as such. However, for the infiltration it was our call that the IPOB and ESN cease violent methods forthwith and allow us know whom the criminals (the Unknown Gunmen) are. The failure of IPOB and ESN to heed our counsel has increased the intractable stance of the terrorism going on in the South-East. This also endangers the life of their agitation and that of their innocent members.

Though the government of the day has lost the morals to fight insecurities in the land, it is obvious that their play energised the violent crimes going on in Nigeria today. This is also a further call on the IPOB and ESN to ensure that they get off violent methods of agitation and return to a peaceful style. This is not gainsaying the need of the government to engage them in adequate dialogue, attend to their views, delist them from the terrorist group and return the South-East to peaceful zone it has always been.

Again, the continued violent method of the IPOB/ESN will only mask the real criminals and fester their clandestine and demonic actions of destruction, dehumanisation, annihilation and bastardisation of the economy, life and property of the people of South-East and other Nigerians in the Southeastern part of Nigeria.