There’re Over 30 Secessionist Groups in Southeast, Says Abaribe

• Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, may not be the only secessionist group in the southeast region of Nigeria
• The Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, says there are more than 30 groups similar to IPOB in the increasingly restive region
• Abaribe, a former deputy governor of Abia state, urged the federal government to engage such groups in a dialogue

FCT, Abuja - The Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, says there are more than 30 separatist organisations in the southeast zone of the country.

Abaribe made the comment on Tuesday, October 5 in an interview aired on Channels Television.

He said the Buhari-led administration might crush secessionist agitators but it would be difficult for the government to crush the ideology behind their agitations until the current administration address the root cause of the problem and embrace dialogue.

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When asked whether he was a supporter of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, having stood surety for its leader, Nnamdi Kanu in the past, Abaribe said:

“I am a supporter of the cries of our people against injustice…I stand with my people.

“One of the biggest problems that the media also has is that they tag everything IPOB in the southeast. You won’t believe that there are more than 30 different separatist organisations. IPOB, MASSOB, there are so many and each one of them comes back to the same thing.

“Why we are having separatist agitations everywhere in the country is that some people are unable to manage our diversity.”

He added that he does not regret standing as one of Kanu’s sureties in 2017 saying:

“I will still stand surety because you feel that you are being unfairly treated.”

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Abaribe further stated that the government of the APC must embrace dialogue to quell the growing agitations in the southeast for fairness and justice to the Igbo people.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo youth wing urges IPOB to disband ESN

Meanwhile, as part of measures to end the crisis in the southeast, the IPOB has been asked to disband the Eastern Security Network, ESN.

The demand was made by the youth wing of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.

The youth group noted that the violent rhetoric by the secessionists may have triggered attacks from its armed wing.

Source: Legit.ng