Call to boycott Anambra election is in overall interest of Ndigbo -IPOB

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday said that her resolve to boycott Anambra state governorship election on November 18 was in the overall interest of Ndigbo.

The group called on Ndigbo to support the move stating that there was no better way to “show our disdain to current situations in the land than to reject plans and policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government.

It is obvious that the structure that has been place does not support the inclusion of Igbo in the marriage called Nigeria, so why are they afraid to canvass their freedom and leave the rest of the country?”

Leader of the IPOB in Enugu state, Cyprian Okoye, told journalists in Enugu that the group was resolute in the effort to achieve Biafra republic out of the present federation, stressing that it would not succumb to intimidation and threats from various quarters.

He said: “We did not say we want Biafra because of Muhammadu Buhari, we did not also say we want to boycott Anambra election because of him. We have rather said that part of our agitation is to ensure that the proposed election did not hold but those who are feeding fat from the flawed system in Nigeria have decided to misinterpret us. They are entitled to their opinion but we will know who has greater authority and support of the people on November 18. They should keep preparing until that day.”

Asked how they intend to stop the election since they neither control the government nor bear weapons, he said: “We have carried out peaceful protests in the past that shook this nation. Yes, government possesses the weapons of war, they possess power to give and take, but the only thing working for us is that we are the conscience of the masses.

“The people know that we have always told them the truth about this country; they know that their fate has been mortgaged by those they elected to serve; they know that the best thing to do is to discontinue in this project called Nigeria; therefore, if the Anambra election boycott will serve the purpose, they are prepared to make the sacrifice to be free.”

On the approach they intend to adopt to achieve the desire, Okoye said: “We are fully mobilized and ready. Politicians and all those masquerading as leaders in the various places don’t vote on Election Day. It is the masses that do the voting. I know that if you stay in your house and decide not to come out, no security agent will come there to force you out. That was how the sit at home we called in June this year succeeded.

“We don’t bear arms and as such will not challenge the man carrying arms. We will not force anybody, but we have our persuasive tendencies that have always worked in our favour and we are not joking about it.”

He stated that the group will begin sensitization in the next couple of weeks in Anambra state on why the residents should support the boycott call, explaining that “no amount of sacrifice is too much for somebody who desires freedom.”

Okoye, who also spoke on the sudden disappearance of one of the leaders of the group, Anthony Ejike Ochi, stated that they would deploy all in their ability to ascertain his where about.

Ochi, 34, married with two children, was said to have left his Lagos base, three months ago to attend a meeting of the group in Enugu but allegedly did not get to the meeting or was seen in Enugu.

His family said they had visited several parks, hospitals and police stations without a trace of him, alleging that he may have fallen into the hands of those opposed to his stand on Biafra.

Okoye, said that the group would rely on her network to ensure that “We establish traces of Ochi in the shortest possible time.”