Governorship candidate of the United Progress Party, Mr Osita Chidoka, has called on the Federal Government to lift the proscription order placed on the Indigenous people of Biafra
The former aviation minister who spoke at the flag off of the governorship campaign at Amoka, said the Easterners have no trace of terrorism and violence in them, hence the proscription was unnecessary and presumptuous.
Recall that the Acting Chief Judge of the high court, Justice Abdul Kafafati outlawed IPOB on the strength of an ex-parte motion that was filed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, filed on behalf of the government.
Osita also called for peace stating that violence should not be resorted to during a struggle but rather intelligence and critical reasoning.
He said, “While we salute all those who through one legitimate way or the other had pursued the struggle, we state today that we are stepping into a new frontier. The Igbo voice against marginalization and injustice will not be achieved on the streets.
“It will rather be won with a determined engagement of our institutions of government and with other Nigerians who feel aggrieved to redefine the meaning of Nigeria and remove the inequalities that have fanned the embers of discord and restructure our nation along the lines of justice, equality and fairness.
His speech read in part,”How can Igbos be terrorists? We have always actively participated in the Nigerian project, yet in this country, we have suffered since June 1945 British inspired ethnic violence, nineteen incidents of pogroms, wanton killings, and violence against our people living across the country.
“In March 2015, our country went to an election that divided us greatly. Today the nation is still greatly divided, and almost back to her primordial lines. Our country is troubled; our people are afraid; our future is uncertain.
“We cannot build a great nation without unity at home. We cannot be a nation where people are hated, branded and then hounded and ostracized.
“We stand here to declare that there are no terrorists in our state; there are no terrorists in our region and we do not feel terrorized as a people.”