Family of missing IPOB coordinator accuses Army, Police of complicity

The Nigerian Army and the Police have been accused of being behind the missing of the Coordinator of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in Enugu State, Mr. Enekwe Emeka Favour.

The family of the Coordinator told newsmen in Onitsha, Anambra State, that the military and police should be held responsible for their missing son whose whereabouts since 2014 has not been known.

According to the uncle to the IPOB leader, John Emeka, “our son, Mr. Enekwe Emeka Favour, has not been seen or heard from him since 2014, when he was last seen alive in Onitsha, Anambra State, where he went and attended a meeting with some other IPOB members and executives”.

He said the Coordinator has not returned to Enugu since then and those IPOB members he had the meeting with confided in them that they have not seen or heard from their coordinator since he left the meeting arena for his Enugu base.

“His three children and woman he left behind when he left for Onitsha are disturbed as this is quite unusual and we will hold the military and police responsible for the missing Emeka Favour as they reportedly clamped down on IPOB members then,” he said.

He said they have searched for him but to no avail, saying that they were afraid for his life and safety “because some of their members were reportedly arrested, kidnapped, tortured and killed by government security operatives while some were in detention in different parts of the country”.

He said some of those in detention were not charged to court or released and they were not given access to their families or lawyers.

The uncle said “the government should stop this inhuman treatment against defenceless and non-violent IPOB members who are seeking the right for self-determination as they (IPOB) believe they cannot co-exist with Nigeria”.

All efforts to get both spokespersons of the Nigerian Army and Police in Anambra State as their numbers were ringing engaged.

Alphonsus Nweze, Awka