BY DAMOLA EMMANUEL
Despite its proscription, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, seems determined to continue its campaign and prove it can still bite.
As a proof, the outlawed group, Wednesday, restated its decision to mobilise people to boycott the fast-approaching 2019 general elections; a decision its leaders insist is irrevocable.
The group’s resolve was revealed via a statement issued, Wednesday, by its deputy leader, Mr. Uche Mefor, who said nothing, neither cajoling nor intimidation, can stop IPOB from pursuing its resolution to its logical conclusion.
But the group’s sudden outburst may be in response to a former Niger Delta militants’ leader, Asari Dokubo, who falted Nnamdi Kanu’s call for boycott, arguing that heeding such call would not only be suicidal but also tantamount to empowering those eminent antagonists of the Biafra aspiration.
Here is Mefor, in his own words: “You cry every day that the constitution is a fraud, the election rigged, INEC used as electoral tool to manipulate results and yet you senselessly or naively continue and want people to vote and yet you are a freedom fighter?
“Look, IPOB cannot mutate and certainly don’t change course mid-flight, IPOB remains ideologically consistent.
“Do your own and we do our own and in the end we take stock. IPOB refuses to betray the trust of her followers or sell them by joining Nigerian politics.”
To underscore its determination to achieve IPOB’s aspirations, Mefor said the group’s leadership might be constrained to change its modus operandi if its current initiative does not yield the desired result.
“Our demands must be met or we apply another sophisticated strategy if the anomaly subsists,” Mefor threatened in the statement, adding: “In the final analysis , it is my considered opinion that those who are suggesting that we change course are at best insincere.
“They know right from the beginning that the end result in joining Nigerian politics is total failure with respect to BIAFRA.
“Be warned, be focused, be vigilant for wolves are on the rampage. Rally round our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and together, we shall eventually prevail.”