A civil society group, Centre for Social
Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has condemned in strong terms the
refusal of the United State government to recognise the Indigenous People of
Biafra, IPOB, as a terrorist group. The centre said the action was a clear
indication that the US was not in support of Nigeria’s unity. IPOB’s Nnamdi
Kanu and U.S President-elect Donald J. Trump The United States Government had,
during the weekend, said that its law does not recognise IPOB as a terrorist
organisation.
Spokesman of the American Embassy in
Nigeria, Russell Brooks, stated that the US was committed to Nigeria’s unity
and would support a peaceful resolution of any crisis in the country. Reacting
to Brooks’ assertion, CESJET said it was disappointed to learn about the
position of the United States Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria to the effect that the
Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is not a terrorist group even after a
competent Nigerian court has issued an order designating the group as such.
Comrade Isaac Ikpa, Executive Secretary of CESJET said it was wrong of Brooks,
to meddle in this issue in a way that could jeopardize Nigeria’s security by
maintaining that IPOB is not seen under US laws as a terrorist organisation.
Ikpa said, “The assertion ignored the fact that Nigeria is a sovereign nation
that does not need the approval of another country to contain terrorists’
threats within its borders.
The US Embassy must note that
Nigeria has every right to prevent known threats from growing same way the US
placed travel ban on nationals of eight countries of the world to keep
terrorists out of its territories despite the global outcry and international
criticisms that did nothing to reverse the action. “CESJET therefore condemns
the US Mission’s decision not to acknowledge that IPOB is a terror group. As
opposed to rushing to making such distracting comment the proper thing was to
have undertaken an appreciation of the threats posed by IPOB to peace within
the West Africa sub region. “We see the view expressed by the Mission through
Russell Brooks as being at variance with US President Donald Trump’s hard-line
stance against terrorists irrespective of their geographical location.
Anyone or group that threatens the
security of a nation, with attendant economic, political and humanitarian
crisis, fits into the definition of a terrorist or a terrorist organization and
IPOB’s activities have so far confirmed same as witnessed by our security
agencies, independent security reports etc.
“The US Embassy in Nigeria must
therefore look beyond its text book approach to what is a credible terrorists’
risk to Nigeria to work towards including IPOB in the database of US terrorist
organizations. It must be noted that time is running out to do this since IPOB
members have steady access to the US and it is a matter of time before they
begin to export the evils they commit in Nigeria to that country.
“The US must not be seen as having double
standards for treating terrorists. It must therefore ensure that Nigeria’s
fight against terrorism, which the US authorities have demonstrated enormous
support for in the last two years, is not jeopardized in pursuit of political
correctness. The safety of the innocent populations that are likely to become
victims of IPOB’s terrorism should rather be above every other interest,” he
said. The group further called on Nigerians to disregard any classification by
the United States that conflicts with the position of the law courts and
authorities in Nigeria since the relationship between both countries should be
collaborative as opposed to the colonial imperialist bondage seared into the
consciousness of some people.
Vanguard News
Vanguard News
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