The detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Kanu has alleged that “enemies” are seeking loopholes to blackmail the group.
According to Kanu’s lead counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, who visited him at the Department of State Security Service facility in Abuja, the embattled leader urged IPOB members to be circumspect in their dealings.
In a statement posted on his verified Facebook page on Thursday, the lawyer said: “We visited Onyendu (Kanu) today (Thursday) at the headquarters of the DSS, Abuja, to provide him with updates on our relevant filings before the Supreme Court, as well as brief him on other pertinent legal briefings.
“During our discussion, Onyendu revealed partial compliance with his routine medication, though still not administered as medically prescribed. Yet, Onyendu is still being denied access to his personal Physician. Furthermore, Onyendu directed me to issue the foregoing statements:
“That this critical time calls for the greatest circumspect among his followers because the enemies are relentlessly exploiting the vulnerable, to sustain their status quo, and further blackmail the IPOB, ably led by Kanu, which is a peaceful self-determination movement.
“Onyendu has a hard stance in condemnation of crimes and dissidents, and reiterated that he had never condoned nor supported criminality of any form. Hence, the criminal elements who are involved in making lives unbearable to our people should be immediately fished out and dealt with as such. They have no place in IPOB’s peaceful self-determination movement.
“That the general public and indeed Umu Chineke (children of God), should be notified in unmistaken terms that nobody is receiving any instruction from Onyendu for the purpose of encouraging dissident behaviours and accordingly, disassociates himself from any person(s) who is mischievously feeding the public with such blatant falsehood. Onyendu stressed that he has since made his stance public, which position is clearly contained in a viral short clip, recorded during one of his appearances in court”.
Ejiofor said that Kanu reiterated his call for total calmness in the entire South-East, and particularly queried the mental state of those who were relentlessly waging war against his people.
He noted that Kanu said IPOB was founded on a peaceful bedrock in consonance with the universally recognised rights of indigenous people to self-determination as clearly encapsulated under the extant laws.
He noted that Kanu reminded Umu Chineke to note that the “successive landmark victories he recently recorded in various courts of competent jurisdictions against the Federal Government may not have gone down well with his traducers, including the FG. Hence, he insists that all hands must be on deck to enable saner minds to identify the real enemies in our midst, and those being used by the establishment to try to implicate and/or blackmail him.”
The lawyer also noted that it was likely that a date would soon be assigned at the Supreme Court for the hearing of Kanu’s appeal against the order staying the execution of the judgment that freed him.
Source: The PUNCH
