On Wednesday 16th June 2021, a viral video of a consisting seventeen Northern groups, referred to as Northern Consensus Movement (NCM), brazenly displayed their idiocy through the placement of a N100 million naira bounty on the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The President of the group, Dr. Auwal Abdullahi, while addressing a press conference, made the provocative pronouncement via a video clip.
In a swift reaction, Ohanaeze Ndigbo socio-cultural group in a statement by it's Secretary-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, on Friday 19th June 2021, berated the move and accused the warring factions in the leadership of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and various Islamic terror organizations of the North, as masterminds of the killings and destructions in the South-East region. Ohaneze Ndigbo called on the Northern groups to place their N100 million bounty on Miyetti Allah and the slain Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau’s successor whom it alleged, had unleashed terror and series of heavy havoc on the citizens. The Igbo socio-cultural group, however, dismissed the claim that Northerners are being killed in the South-East, maintaining that there had not been any such killings recorded anywhere in the region. The organization further accused them of embarking on a mission aimed at subverting the ambition of South-Easterners in producing Buhari’s successor, come 2023.
The Igbo organization stated, “we would not want to join issues with faceless groups that are not known in the North but in as much as with impunity, they are making attempts to orchestrate crisis in the country by not only placing a bounty on Nnamdi Kanu over the alleged killings, but are equally out to escalate tensions. For record purposes, there had not been any killing of Northerners in the region, except for the yet to be uncovered murderers of Ahmed Gulak in Owerri, Imo State. With the exception of the nefarious activities of the "Unknown Gunmen" and the rampaging Fulani killer herdsmen, there have been relative peace and tranquility. These faceless Northern groups are being sponsored by desperate, Northern politicians on ill-conceived agenda. They should also place the same bounty on the new leader of Boko Haram terrorist group, that just emerged after the death of Abubakar Shekau. Nnamdi Kanu has identifiable addresses in London and in Germany where IPOB offices are widely located. There is absolutely no need wasting energy and resources, searching for him as he is not hiding. He is not in Nigeria, he has an address in London as a British citizen. They should just use the N100 million bounty given to them by the frustrated and very desperate Northern politicians, who are trying to destabilize the South-East, for easily grab of the 2023 presidential slots of major political parties in Nigeria, to fish out and prosecute their brethren terrorists.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo scribe continued, “They should place the bounty on Shekau’s successor who has no address, who is living in the forest and leading the terrorist groups that picked up arms against Nigeria in the last six years. They should not cry more than the bereaved for Biafrans will wholesomely take care of the South-East region and ensure that normalcy returns. As far as we are concerned, that bounty is inconsequential and totally political. It serves only as a means of heating up tension in the polity".
On the other hand, Reno Omokri, aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, asked via his twitter handle: "Why would a Northern group place N100 million bounty on Nnamdi Kanu’s head? The North has bandits who abduct school children almost on weekly basis. They also have Boko Haram. Use that money to place bounties on the heads of leaders of bandits and Boko Haram.” He also wrote in the same spirit: “The same groups that defended Dr. Isa Pantami for expressing joy at the killing of non-Muslims, the same ones who defended Sheikh Abubakar Gumi for saying that Christian soldiers were killing Muslim herdsmen, have gathered to place a N100 million bounty on Nnamdi Kanu’s head. Is it not madness?”
Meanwhile, Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central at the 8th National Assembly, has slammed the Northern groups.
Reacting, Senator Sani faulted the move, stating that the group should have channeled their efforts towards ending the terrorism and banditry currently ravaging their region. The former lawmaker made the remark on Friday 18th June 2021, in a post on his official Facebook page which read: “We have terrorists and bandits here up North, killing and kidnapping our people; why not the Northern groups place a price tag on the heads of their leaders instead of placing them on someone far abroad?,” he asked.
Written by Onyemachi Eme
Edited by Chibueze Daniel
For Family Writers Press International
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