IPOB slams Sheik Argungu, raises alarm on alleged danger to Biafrans, Northern Christians, non-Hausa Fulanis

•Sheik Abubakar Gero Argungu

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has described a statement credited to Sheik Abubakar Gero Argungu, Sawtul Hikmah, on March 9, 2018 as a danger to Biafrans and Christian populations in the North, as well as to non-Hausa Fulani ethic nationalities.

IPOB quoted Sheik Argungu as saying: “He is with us and believes in our cause. Every Muslim in Nigeria must be ready. We will never allow any infidel to come to power again.

“We want our Muslim soldiers in the barracks to be on their guard and never allow these infidels to intimidate us again. Whether we are prepared or not every soldier must answer his father’s name.”

IPOB said in a statement issued on Friday in Awka, Anambra State capital, that what was attributed to Sheik Argungu portrays the evil intentions towards non-Muslims, adding that Biafrans are now wiser and can read the hand-writing on the wall.

The group claimed that the same conditions that gave rise to the pogrom of 1966/67 are once again playing out in the North.

The statement, signed by IPOB Spokesman Emma Powerful, reads: “The difference this time being that those that fell for the lies that Igbos and other Easterners were the problem of Nigeria are now the victims of their well-orchestrated ethnic cleansing and domination. 

“It sinks the soul to read such putrid hatred, such baying of blood of non-Muslims in the Middle Belt; such call to the Nigerian armed forces to commit genocide against Christians from the Middle Belt and the rest of Southern Nigeria, from no less a person than a man who is reportedly close to Mr Muhammad Buhari.

“Consider this: Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, stated just months ago that “the most dangerous place in the world for Christians to live is Nigeria”. This, plus more of the serial hatred spewing from Nigeria’s Muslim North are confirmation enough that Christians are indeed endangered species in Nigeria.

“Amnesty reports and other international investigations report same dire prospects. Yet, a so-called Federal Government decides to do nothing.

“This Sheik Argungu has been walking free three weeks after committing this crime in full view of the press, of world media; and all to the attention of the President, the IGP, the AGF, the SSS, the Army itself, and all the others that are supposed to enforce the law. Instead the obsession of the core North has become the utterances of Lt Gen. TY Danjuma.

“Is it no longer a crime to incite the army to commit mass murder in Nigeria? Section 46A of the Criminal Code provides that ‘Any person who, by any means whatever, causes or attempts to cause, or does any act calculated to cause disaffection amongst persons serving as members of the armed forces of Nigeria; or does any act calculated to induce any person serving as aforesaid to hold his services or to commit breaches of discipline, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years’.

“What we IPOB are pointing out is that this man is a criminal under Nigerian laws. But it’s doubtful that Buhari and his fellow Islamic fundamentalists will see it that way because the Sheikh is a Fulani man and, as has become the norm, Fulanis are above the law in Nigeria today. This is what Nigeria has become, their Nigeria. In all of these, what have Christians done or intend to do despite the warning from TY Danjuma? The answer is Nothing.”

IPOB accused Christians of waiting for the slaughter; and begging for restructuring from a Buhari that is intent on a conquest of the Middle Belt and the South.

Continuing, the statement reads: “When it comes to Southerners, especially Igbos or Biafrans raising a harmless finger of protest, Buhari will unleash his characteristic violence. What even rankles more is that Buhari has found some comfort and connivance with some southerners, even some Igbo.

“If not so, how do you make of what is issuing from northern Muslims to the ‘reconciliatory politics’ of people like Nnia Nwodo, Joe Igbokwe, Osita Okechukwu, Father Ejike Mbaka, etc, who are still embroiled in a romance with ‘One Nigeria’, Buhari’s one Nigeria of pains, tears and blood?

“Yes, one Nigeria represented by what Argungu said. What of the quit notice and threat to life Arewa Consultative Forum made through their youths? Then you add the unchecked herdsmen killings, the dirty deals with Boko Haram using Biafra oil money. Then you have Miyetti Allah threatening everybody; you have FUNAM threatening to bring Nigeria down if they are not allowed to rule forever. And you have a so-called army that TY Danjuma, a former head of the army, has all but labeled a jihadist army.

“Why would any Igbo or even a southerner or middle belt indigene support what these evil people did to IPOB and is still doing till date? Is it not now clear that the proscription of IPOB was wrong? Who’s the real terrorist?

“An IPOB that is unarmed and just agitating peacefully? Or a Miyetti Allah or herdsmen that have owned up to massacres? Or this man Argungu who is baying Nigerian Army to kill Christians? Or even the Nigerian army that invades Igboland anytime Buhari chooses but decides to turn a blind eye to Boko Haram and herdsmen?

“Until these questions are answered and until Buhari is isolated as the number one divider of our time, Nigeria will know no peace.”