By Lawrence Njoku (Enugu) and Nnamdi Akpa (Abakaliki)

Canvasses extension of SULHU programme to IPOB

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has demanded an unreserved apology and restitution from theSenate Committee Chairman on Foreign Affairs, Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, over alleged inflammatory remarks against Ndigbo.

Ohanaeze Ndigboalso called on President of the Senate, Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, to reprimand Bulkachuwa publicly to serve as a deterrent to others, who do not understand their oath of office and allegiance to the constitution of Nigeria.

Bulkachuwa was quoted as saying on television that Ndigbo deserved death and elimination, becausethe South East harbours criminals, rebels and arsonists.

He was alleged to have also said that rather than the Igbo getting the presidency they were clamouring for, they deserved elimination from the country.

But responding to Bulkachuwa’s comments in a statement yesterday, Ohanaeze Ndigbo expressed shock and disbelief that a senator and Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, could make such incendiary remarks against the Igbo without any provocation whatsoever.”

In the statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alex Chiedozie Ogbonnia, the group argued that the Igbo demand for the presidency was within their right under the laws of Nigeria.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo condemns Bulkachuwa for spewing such hate speech on a major Nigerian ethnic group. It is highly inconceivable that a senator and husband of a highly placed judicial officer, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, would habour such evil wish for a significant section of the country.

“This goes to show clearly the wicked mindset of some people in power, who have no other objective, but to turn the country into a killing field in the pursuit of their hidden ethno-religious agenda,” the statement reads.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, therefore, demanded an unreserved apology and restitution from Bulkachuwa for what it described as an unwarranted assault.

It also charged Lawan to reprimand Bulkachuwa publicly to serve as a deterrent to others, who do not understand their oath of office and allegiance to the country’s constitution.

“For the purposes of clarity,a senator must be seen to protect the interest and corporate existence of the entire country at all times. I doubt if we can build a truly united country with such irresponsible conduct and legislative rascality by the likes of Bulkachuwa,” the statement added.

MEANWHILE, the group also chided the Federal Government over comments capable of escalating the insecurity situation in the Southeast by calling members of IPOB thieves, insisting that they were freedom fighters.

In a statement issued in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Secretary-General of the Chidi Ibeh-led faction, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said Boko Haram were the thieves and not IPOB, and called on the Federal Government should also extend the SULHU programme to IPOB, as it did to Boko Haram terrorists.

He noted that calling IPOB thieves instead of freedom fighters was diversionary, adding that it was a ploy to give a dog a bad name to hang it, stressing that Federal Government’s excessive attention on IPOB, resulted in the introduction of armed struggle to what was a non-violent Biafra agitation.