A certain Z. Ojukwu has bared his mind to the public on the need to stop killing the Igbos for demanding self-determination since it is not a crime to do so. He alleged that enemies of the Igbo are hiding under different guises to kill Igbos so as to pin it on IPOB or ESN which were meant to defend the helpless people or they tag it on the Unknown gunmen.
In the piece titled “Stop the Killing of Igbo Children; Secession, Self-determination Not a Crime” Ojukwu decried the highhanded treatment of the Federal Government in Igboland over the years marked with killings and brutalization of the innocent.
The full text of Ojukwu’s statement is as follows:
“While we say a big no to violent agitations, we must state the truth, the fact and the law a decent world works with. It is an inalienable right of a people to decide, determine how to be governed, where to live and the group including a state to belong. Hence, there is no such thing as an iron republic which Nigeria has been made to look like. As a matter of fact, Nigeria still remains an illusionary nation, a teddy bear or sandcastle of the West. It is inhuman, evil, wicked and dastardly to kill Igbo children for a fake nation. You have no justification for killing Igbo children. Secession is no crime in any known law.
“We know the story and how it all started. Most Igbo scholars have watched Nigerian government and her foolish macabre dance in Igboland, taking innocent lives on daily basis with impunity and mad-man arrogance. It is not like we don’t know how to talk or who to approach but we had hoped all along that Nigeria government would retrace her rogue steps, respect that life is sacrosanct and understand genuine human desires, aspirations and dreams, but the roguery and the high-handedness, the killings have kept growing. It’s time for every reasonable Igbo son and daughter home or abroad to understand that the killing of our people using different names is totally unacceptable.
“Whoever is killing Igbo children using IPOB, ESN, Unknown Gunmen and whatever guise should stop it. People are already alleging that the violent ESN or unknown gunmen were created by the government. If Igbos stand for referendum as a lawful procedure for determining a membership of a Nigerian state or otherwise. Call for referendum, let the will of the people prevail. Nigeria is not an iron republic. Instead of killing innocent children, call for referendum.
Z. Ojukwu writes from Awka”