Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, on Tuesday raised the alarm over a fresh plot by soldiers to assassinate him.
Kanu, in a statement issued in reaction to an invitation to a meeting with South-East governors, said he became aware of the plot and had decided to back out of the planned parley.
He also stated that he and IPOB leaders are considering armed struggle to counter the brutalisation of IPOB members by soldiers acting under Operation Python Dance II in different parts of the South-East.
After a meeting with the governors at Enugu Government House on August 30, 2017, they had scheduled another parley for September 15.
In the statement, he said: “Before now, prominent leaders and groups had insisted that I tow the line of peaceful dialogue and meet with the governors to find a lasting solution to our grievances.
“I conceded to that request which led to the 30th of August 2017 meeting with the South-East Governors Forum at the Government House in Enugu, in the company of the very eminent Prof. Ben Nwabueze and Evangelist Elliott Ugochukwu-Ukoh.
“In view of the concerted effort by the oppressive Nigerian state to shatter the peace and tranquility of the South-East and the rest of Biafraland through military intimidation, it has become necessary for me to clarify why, regrettably, I may not be able to attend Friday’s meeting with the South-East governors as earlier agreed, for three main reasons.
“1.) We are currently busy attending to our dead and injured from this latest round of unprovoked military onslaught against innocent civilians in our own land. All the casualties so far were shot by men of the Nigerian Army deployed to my house and those stationed along motor ways leading into Umuahia my hometown.
“2.) I have been reliably informed also, that a detachment of … soldiers responsible for the murder of innocent unarmed IPOB family members have now been stationed near Enugu to ambush and assassinate me on my way to the meeting with the governors on Friday.
“3.) On that same Friday the 15th of September 2017, the leadership of IPOB through the instrumentality of the Directorate of State (DOS) headquartered in Germany, will be meeting to vote on the viability or otherwise of continuing our struggle in this non-violent manner. There is urgent need to begin the process of defending ourselves in the face of relentless murderous attacks from the Nigerian state.”
