A coalition of rights activists has slammed President Bola Tinubu over his Independence Day broadcast, accusing him of making a reckless and prejudicial comparison between the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Boko Haram terrorist group.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, the Advocates for Victims of Injustice and Discrimination, AVID, and Rising Sun Ambassadors for Self-Determination condemned Tinubu’s action, noting that the President’s comments are sub judice as a suit challenging IPOB’s designation as a terror organization by the Nigerian government is pending before the Supreme Court.
The rights activists described Tinubu’s comments as an attempt to influence the outcome of the pending suit by poisoning the atmosphere against IPOB.
Parts of the statement read, “We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reckless remarks equating IPOB with Boko Haram. It is deeply unfortunate that a sitting President would make such a false, inflammatory, and prejudicial statement while IPOB’s appeal is pending before the Supreme Court of Nigeria and while Mazi Nnamdi Kanu battles for his life before Justice James Omotosho at the Federal High Court.
“This utterance is not only sub judice, but a blatant attempt to poison the atmosphere of justice, intimidate the judiciary, and prejudice ongoing proceedings. It reflects a continuation of the ethnic persecution relay that has characterized Kanu’s ordeal, from Fulani domination under Buhari to Tinubu.
Rather than obsessing over IPOB, a non-violent self-determination movement, Tinubu should direct his energy towards Fulani terrorists and bandits who are ravaging Nigerian farmlands, displacing communities, and slaughtering citizens with impunity. It is shameful that while armed Fulani militias destroy the very fabric of Nigeria, Tinubu chooses to slander IPOB and persecute its leader for daring to demand justice for his people.
“We remind Tinubu and his cohorts that envy and jealousy of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s popularity among his people will never succeed in silencing him. If anything, every additional day of his illegal detention only magnifies his stature and makes him even more beloved by millions at home and abroad.
“History teaches us that the persecuted always outlive their persecutors. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu embodies the resilience of the Igbo nation. Just as the Eboe Landing martyrs chose honour over slavery, so too has Kanu chosen courage over submission.”
The activists further urged the United States and Canadian authorities to take action against Tinubu and the two Nigerian political parties All Progressives Congress, APC, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
“We call on the United States Congress and the U.S. Department of State to: Declassify and release President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s full records (immigration, criminal, financial, and educational) into the public domain in the interest of transparency, democracy, and accountability.
“We further call on the Government of Canada to: Gazette and enforce the Canadian court’s designation of APC and PDP as terrorist organizations, recognizing that these ruling parties have long sponsored electoral violence, militias, and terror against the Nigerian people,” the statement said.
The rights activists noted that APC and PDP are the real terrorist organizations and should be treated as such.
“It is a scandal of international proportions that peaceful IPOB is falsely labeled terrorist, while the real terrorist organizations the ruling political parties APC and PDP are treated with diplomatic legitimacy.
“We call on the international community to: Condemn Tinubu’s reckless and prejudicial utterances against IPOB. Demand the immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who has already been discharged and acquitted on jurisdictional grounds. Hold Nigeria’s ruling elites accountable for ethnic persecution disguised as national security.
“President Tinubu has only succeeded in proving one thing: the more he persecutes IPOB and detains Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the stronger and more popular both become. No prison walls, no courtroom manipulations, and no executive propaganda can extinguish the light of truth.
“Finally, a Canadian court designated both APC and PDP as terrorist groups in Nigeria.”
Your comparison of IPOB with sub judice – Activists knock Tinubu