- IPOB: We attacked Ekweremadu
The fight for the actualisation of Biafra took a dramatic twist yesterday when Senator Ike Ekweremadu, was attacked by some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Germany.
The former Deputy Senate President had been invited to attend a New Yam festival in Nuremberg when he was assaulted by IPOB members.
The video of the incident, which has gone viral on the Internet, shows Ekweremadu being protected and then bundled into a car and rapidly driven out of the venue ostensibly to save him from further being attacked.
IPOB subsequently confessed to being behind the attack accusing the Senator of being a “supporter” of Operation Python Dance, the security operation currently taking place in the Eastern part of the country.
In a statement, signed by the group’s media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB also warned that what happened to the Senator now also awaits other Igbo leaders including Governors, Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Willie Obiano (Anambra) and President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo should they venture outside the shores of Nigeria.
“Today being the 17th day of August 2019 the Nuremberg IPOB family in Germany in keeping with the long standing directive from our leader to hound all instigators of Operation Python Dance, is glad to report that Ike Ekweremadu was confronted and duly hounded out of a so-called New Yam Festival event in Germany,” Emma Powerful said.
He then concluded the short statement by warning: “This should serve as a warning to Nnia Nwodo, Dave Umahi, Okezie Ikpeazu, Willie Obiano and co that any day we find them in a public event abroad, they will be humiliated. IPOB is strategically located in over 100 countries around the world. Anywhere we find them, they will be dealt with.”
However, in swift response, President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo condemned the assault on the former Deputy Senate President in Germany.
In a statement made available to journalists in Enugu at the weekend, Nwodo said: “The assault on Ekweremadu by Igbos in Germany, described as IPOB members, is disappointing, grotesque and dangerous for Igbo solidarity.
“This violent, rude, impertinent, divisive and discourteous style of IPOB or IPOB instigated miscreants is damaging to our cause. It strengthens the case of those who describe them as terrorists and weaken our case against the infringement of our fundamental human rights.”
But the Senator, who gave his own side of the account of the event on his social media handle, @iamekweremdu, however, assured Ndigbo and his supporters across the nation that he was safe.
Narrating the incident, Ekweremadu said: “I attended the Second Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organised by Ndi-Igbo Germany in Nurnberg today (yesterday), where I was billed to give a keynote address along with the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who, however, could not make it eventually.
“I was given a resounding welcome by Ndigbo in Germany and everything went smoothly until some men, who identified themselves as IPOB members stormed the venue and began to complain about the killings in the South East, stressing that there would be no Igbo event at the venue.
“I tried to engage them but when they became unruly, I had to leave the venue. The organisers also invited the police and I was accompanied out of the venue.
“Much as I am disappointed in their conduct, especially as I am one of the persons, who have spoken up on justice for Ndigbo, the Python Dance, judicial killings in Igbo land and elsewhere both on the floor of the Senate and in my written and personal engagements with the Presidency and the media as well as rallied the South East Senate Caucus to secure Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release with Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe taking him on bail to douse tension in the South East, I nevertheless do not hold this to heart against them, for they know not what they do.
“I have received thousands of solidarity calls and messages from well-meaning Ndigbo. I want to assure them that I am hale and hearty. I have also spoken with the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has condemned the attack on the former deputy senate president, Senator Ike Ekweremadu at the 2nd Annual Igbo Cultural Festival held in Nuremberg, Germany.
Dabiri-Erewa in a statement on Saturday described the incident as an embarrassment to the country.
She stated that some of the culprits who perpetrated the act had been apprehended and called on the German government and law enforcement agencies to ensure they faced the consequences of their actions.
The NIDCOM boss stated: “It is also shamefully pathetic that an event which was nobly put together by the Ndi-Igbo community in Germany whose members make up the majority of Nigerians living in Germany, to amongst other things provide a forum for the Diasporans and various stakeholders to network and to facilitate a better cooperation between German and Nigerian businesses, ended up in such a disgraceful manner.”
She appealed to Nigerians to be of good behaviour wherever they find themselves “because such incidents tarnish the image of the country.”
