...Says IPOB Is Like A Dot In A Circle
Godwin Akomah, Lagos
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday morning assured secession agitators in the South - East of the country, especially the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of tougher times soon, reiterating that the Police and military would be coming to teach them "the language they will understand."
The region has been rife with violence, arsons and killings of security operatives as well as serial attacks on police formations and covernment infrastructure.
In response the area too has come under heavy siege by joint-security operations to stem the raging tide of killings and impediments to socioeconomic activities.
But speaking in a rare interview session on Arise TV’s breakfast programme this morning, the President said that the Biafran agitators, especially the Mazi Nnamdi Kanu - led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), did not know what they were talking, warning that the separatist group appeared set to plunge their people into another avoidable trouble.
Alao, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had earlier described as "idiotic" and "diminishing" the agitations for Biafra or any other republic which have led to needless killings and mindless destruction of public buildings in the region.
Speaking further during the interview anchored by former Presidential Spokesperson, Dr. Reuben Abati, Buhari noted that the Ndigbo were scattered across the country, requiring that trouble makers among them should be more circumspect.
He pointed out that the South South Elders and youths had also reminded him that the South East was landlocked and hemmed in like a dot in a circle, stressing that this time around, the IPOB would not be allowed any access to the outside world by sea.
He said: “The elderly people if the South South said that this time around, the South East will not have access to the sea. I am sure you will understand what they mean. Again the youths made the same statement.
"So, that IPOB is just like a dot in a cycle, if they must secede, you must have access to where you are. And the way they are spread all over the country, having businesses, having property, I think that IPOB doesn’t know what they are talking about.
“In any case, we said we will talk to them in the language they will understand. We will organise the police and the army to pursue them, that’s what we can do and we will do it.”
He also touched the non -inclusion of people from the South East in the national security hierarchy, saying the region has to grow through the ranks.
“You don’t force somebody to join, you have to join and pass through the rigmarole of getting to the top," he reasoned.
The President also admitted that there is youth unemployment in the country and fuelling restiveness in many places such as the October 2020 EndDARS protests but wondered how violence and destruction would create jobs for them.
“Yes, I agree there is youth unemployment, I also agree that until the Youths stop destroying investments in their domain, no other investors will come to their areas to provide jobs.
"Look at Lagos, a serious governor procured over 200 new busses for his people and some Youths said they are angry and burnt all those busses without thinking twice.....tell me how that will bring jobs for them," he said.
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