Kayode ShopekanTWITTER has deleted a tweet by Simon Ekpa, a disciple of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, over violation of rules.
In the tweet, which has now been removed, Ekpa threatened a Lagos State chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Joe Igbokwe with death.
In the tweet, the Finland-based Biafran agitator said, “Joe Igbokwe, get ready to die because Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Tongue is powerful, his friends and families should take note and don’t accuse innocent people when nature takes its stand. He should’ve done spiritual consultation first.”
Igbokwe, who is an aide to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is known for opposing IPOB and Kanu.
Explaining why he celebrated Kanu’s arrest, he said the IPOB had ordered his loyalists to kill him and destroy his properties in the South-East.
Igbokwe had earlier explained why the government had not extended the coordinated efforts towards the arrest of Kanu to bandits and kidnappers.
He stated that bandits were simply into “kidnapping business” and might not even be Nigerians while calls for secession by Kanu may lead to war.
He said, “That is the argument of the weak human beings, you want to compare Sambisa Forest to the South-East that is smaller than Kogi State. Bandits come to kidnap for money, you pay them and they release you, that is their business, those people may not even be Nigerians. It is not war, it is not secession. In fact, in the Supreme Court of Nigeria when the issue of secession came up, the Supreme Court will not entertain it; we don’t discuss it.
“You don’t talk about it, tribes must die for you to build a nation. It is unheard of, we have made mistakes in the past, we don’t want to repeat them again. It is a delicate, complicated matter. Almost 400 young men lost their lives in two months.”
The excuse given here by Igbokwe as to why the government focused on secessionist issues and turned a blind eye to banditry and Boko haram insurgency is pretty lame. There have been so many ridiculous and naive views on the Nigerian state of affairs that it beggars belief that a country with so much educated people could be so uninformed and rudimentary in thinking as to churn out absolute garbage.
What is secession? It is when a part of the country feel marginalised and their interests not served by the government therefore, they wanted to go their separate ways; while religious insurgency is when a group of religious “nuts” wanted to take over the country in order to enslave the populace and forcibly convert them to their brand of religious beliefs. Tell me, which of these is more dangerous to the country? Secession or religious insurgency? If secession is a crime so also are banditry and Boko haram insurgency! You don’t treat one to the exclusion of others. They all contribute in equal measures to the disintegration of the country. And for the fact that the writer opined that the bandits might not even be Nigerians is the more reason why the crime should be taken seriously and dealt with, because it meant that external forces are invading your country!
It is time to get a grip on things and reason and write objectively instead of just churning out garbage in the name of swerving public opinions for narrow and selfish interests.