Ohaneze Raises The Alarm Over “Shoot-at-sight” Order In South East Ohaneze Raises The Alarm Over “Shoot-at-sight” Order In South East
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has raised the alarm over the alleged “shoot-at-sight order” given to the Nigerian soldiers against Igbo youth, warning that such order... Ohaneze Raises The Alarm Over “Shoot-at-sight” Order In South East

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has raised the alarm over the alleged “shoot-at-sight order” given to the Nigerian soldiers against Igbo youth, warning that such order is  a call for another pogrom and genocide against the Igbo.

Ohanaeze has, therefore, asked the federal government to refrain from the use of force in resolving the present national crises.

In a statement issued today in Enugu, the National Publicity Secretary of the apex Igbo sociocultural/political organisation, Alex Ogbonnia quoted the President General of Ohanaeze, Prof. George Obiozor as admonishing the federal government to “learn a lesson from history by not fighting an unwinnable war against nationalism but seek possible peaceful options that are the only solution that guarantees national unity and peaceful coexistence.”

Obiozor noted that the pattern of deployment of northern military officers to the South-East lent credence to the report of the shoot-at-sight order.

“The attention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to the “shoot-at-sight order” given to the Nigerian soldiers on how to engage the Igbo youths in the oncoming weeks. The Sahara Reporters, May 8, elaborated on the new secret plan which by the grace of God has come to the public domain. The report further revealed that the exercise will commence from Orlu in Imo State, South East Nigeria. This is very disturbing,” the statement read in part.

“The pattern of deployment of northern military officers to the South-East lends credence to the above report.  Sahara Reporters revealed that in preparation for the above, the Nigerian army has posted Northern Muslims as commanders over its operations and brigades in Anambra, Imo, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Benue, Edo, Delta and Rivers.

“In Anambra State, the Cantonment Commandant of the 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, is Col Abdulsalam Abubakar Sambo, a Hausa-Fulani Muslim; in Imo State, the Brigade Commander of 34 Brigade, Obinze, is Brig Gen Ibrahim Tukura, another northerner; in Abia State, the Brigade Commander of 14 Brigade, Ohafia, is Brig Gen M. Ibrahim, still, a northerner while in Akwa Ibom State, the Brigade Commander of 2 Brigade, Uyo, is Brig Gen Faruk Mijinyawa, another northerner. This is truly worrisome!”

Insisting that the current problems confronting Nigeria, such as ethnic militia, agitation for secession, insurgency, etc were a product of sustained orchestrated injustice in governance, Ohanaeze quoted Obiozor again as having lamented that “sub-national consciousness or ethnocentric nationalism which is a dangerous form of nationalism to national unity has taken over Nigeria,” adding that “the dream of Nigeria unity is receding and fading fast with violence, crises and conflicts.”

The organization made reference to the former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Sen. Shehu Sani, who vehemently decried that the Igbo have been systematically marginalised since the civil war.

“Speaking in Kaduna at a meeting organised by the Association of Eze-Ndigbo in the Diaspora on Saturday, May 8, 2021, Sani described the marginalisation as a “collective punishment”.

“There has been a systemic exclusion and marginalisation of your people, stemming from the historic Biafra war. This is a collective punishment,” Sani had declared.

“Every right-thinking Nigerian who loves the corporate existence of Nigeria should align with the Shehu Sani position. The problem with Nigeria in general and the Igbo in particular is located in injustice and the simple solution lays in manifest dialogue, equity and justice,” Obiozor further stated, stressing: “History shows that military and violent means to solve the national question is bound to fail as it leads to further national fractionalization, anarchy and eventual or inevitable disintegration, as in all Empires or multi-national states or countries.”

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