IPOB: Umeh calls for peaceful affirmation
Following the deployment of massive troops of the Nigerian Army to the South East by the federal government to quell the quest of sovereignty by some people, frontline politician in the zone, Chief Victor Umeh, has said that the decision of the federal government was a spite on the people of the region.
Umeh, who was the national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and now the chairman of Obiano Re-Election Campaign Committee, said that the federal government cannot extinguish the quest of Igbo people for equality, equity and social justice,
adding that it was time the federal government changed its attitude towards the Igbo people in order to manage their agitations.
Speaking during a town hall meeting at Prof Dora Akunyili Women Development Center, Awka, Umeh disclosed that the agitation of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) raised mixed reactions, but commended the South East governors for their tenacity in resolving the crisis.
According to him, “the agitation was as a result of marginalization and neglect (and) one of the ways to solve it is by the federal government to be even-handed. The federal government should listen constructively to them and when it’s done, the people will lay down their agitations and come to a dialogue.”
He regretted the death of some youths as a result of the crisis, saying no one should engender the lives of anybody in the process of agitation.
Umeh called for peaceful political affirmation to navigate through the challenges, urging federal government to have an attitudinal change in resolving certain issues.
Speaking on Anambra government, Umeh observed that Obiano’s three years in office added flesh in the lives of Anambra people more than his predecessors.
Umeh, who was addressing some members of Catholic Lay Council, urged them to be upright and avoid chaotic activities that would mar the progress of the society.
The former APGA boss charged Igbo to embrace APGA as the only Igbo party with Igbo’s interest, calling on them to be united in pursuing their political purpose as the only way to achieve national interest.
He warned desperate politicians to refrain from conspiracy against men of God in their quest towards achieving their egocentric interest, noting that Anambra election should not be a do or die affair.
