By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has raised questions over how its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was tagged as a terrorist just days after an August 2017 peace meeting he held with governors of the South-East states in Enugu.

IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, raised the question on Tuesday in a statement titled, ‘Where was the terrorism between August and September 2017?’

Kanu, at the peace meeting which held at the Enugu State Government House, demanded the implementation of developmental projects and initiatives across the South-East.

However, days after the meeting, Kanu’s family home in Umuahia, Abia State, was invaded by troops of the Nigerian Army under Operation Python Dance, allegedly at the request of the South-East governors. Kanu escaped but several persons were reportedly killed during the incident.

IPOB, in a statement on Tuesday, said the Nigerian government should explain how Kanu was suddenly classified as a terrorist after the Enugu peace meeting.

The statement said: “The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by the prophet of our generation, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, asks the Nigerian Government and the international community one simple question: Where was the terrorism?

“On 30 August 2017, the South-East Governors Forum met with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Enugu in what then Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State described as a peace meeting.

“What did Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu demand? He demanded development, economic renewal, justice and respect for the rule of law. He demanded the reopening and revitalisation of the Igweocha (Port Harcourt), Calabar and Warri seaports; dredging of the River Niger; direct international flights from Europe and the United States into Enugu, Igweocha and Calabar; the completion of 2nd Niger Bridge, upgrading of Owerri Airport into a functional cargo airport; functional railways; reliable electricity; primary healthcare; and the revival of abandoned heavy industries to restore productive capacity and create meaningful employment for the region’s young people and graduates. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu publicly confirmed these demands, including the three seaports and river port on River Niger at Onitsha/Asaba.

“He also demanded respect for court orders, the release of detainees including Sambo Dasuki and Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and investigations into killings of IPOB members and supporters. These were demands for productive infrastructure, industrialisation, employment, economic opportunity, justice and lawful governance.

“Then came 14 September 2017. The Nigerian military invaded Onyendu’s home at Afaraukwu, Umuahia. The military went there to kill him. It failed. Onyendu survived. And what happened the very next day? On 15 September, Dave Umahi announced that the South-East Governors Forum had proscribed IPOB activities after the military invasion of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s home the previous day had failed to kill Onyendu.

“Yet the very resolution announcing the proscription appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the military from the South-East, called for investigations into killings and other unlawful conduct, and urged the people of the South-East to remain law-abiding. This is the beginning of insecurity in the South-East.

“So we ask: Where exactly, was the terrorism? Where was the terrorism between the peace meeting of 30 August and the proscription of IPOB on 15 September? What terrorist activity by IPOB happened in-between?”

According to IPOB, Igbo politicians must answer how demanding for seaports, airports, railways, electricity, industrialisation, youth employment and healthcare transformed to terrorism.

“Where was the terrorism in demanding justice, obedience to court orders and investigations into killings? Where was the terrorism that justified invading Onyendu’s home?

“And where was the evidence that transformed a political movement making these demands into a terrorist organisation?” the statement added.

IPOB observed that the categorization of the group as a terrorist organization by the Nigerian military on September 15, 2017 is confirmation that Igbo politicians – with Umahi at the helm – brought death and military terrorism to Igboland “because both South-East governors and Nigerian army worked as a team to bring death to Biafraland using proscription of IPOB as a cover”.

The separatist group further noted that on September 18, 2017, the then Senate President, Bukola Saraki, publicly declared that both the military’s categorisation of IPOB as a terrorist organisation and the South-East Governors’ proscription were unconstitutional and did not follow due process.

Raising questions for the Nigerian government, IPOB stressed, “This is the question Nigeria must answer. What happened between 30 August and 15 September 2017? What transformed a peace meeting into a military invasion? What transformed demands for economic development and lawful governance into terrorism? What happened between the demand for seaports, airports, railways, electricity and industrialisation and the decision to deploy soldiers against Onyendu? What happened between political engagement and proscription?”

Insisting that the government must produce its evidence, IPOB called on the international community to examine the records of the peace meeting and Kanu’s demands, as well as the military invasion of his home, and the proscription of the pro-Biafra group.

It also demanded an examination of the subsequent court proceedings in Nnamdi Kanu’s trial.