KILLING OF BIAFRA AGITATORS: South East Senators demand probe

25-11-2016

·     IPOB declares 2,000 members killed, 750 missing

·     Alleges 270 undergoing torture

 

Shocked by the report of Amnesty Interna­tional (AI) on the mas­sive killing of defence­less pro-Biafra agitators by the military, the South East Senate Caucus has urged the Executive arm of government to probe the “atrocities.”

The Senators said that the allegations were so weighty that they should not be swept away.

Consequently, the Igbo Sen­ators appealed to President Mu­hammadu Buhari to constitute a judicial panel of inquiry im­mediately to investigate the al­leged killing of the pro-Biafra agitators.

Amnesty International had in a report published by most national dailies on Thursday, alleged that 150 defenceless members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) were killed by security agents between August 2015 and August 2016.

In a statement issued in Abuja, the Chairman of the South East Senate Caucus, Sen­ator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the report by AI, which paint­ed a “very chilling picture of the brutal killing of peaceful protest­ers” allegedly by the military is “not only embarrassing to Ni­geria as a country, but one that casts doubts on the modus oper­andi of the Nigerian military in handling civil protests in a con­stitutional democracy.

Abaribe said: “It is not enough for the Nigerian mili­tary to debunk the report; we as a Caucus demand an independ­ent inquiry in the form of a judi­cial panel and urgently too.

“It is our candid view that such panel would reassure the Igbo that the Federal Gov­ernment is alive to its respon­sibilities, one of which is the protection and respect of the fundamental rights of all people irrespective of tribe or religion”.

The Caucus added that “un­ravelling the authenticity of the report would help to prevent a recurrence just as it will engen­der unity in our country. But the most important thing to us now is that the report must be probed and those implicated must be made to face justice”.

2,000 members were killed, 750 missing- IPOB

Meanwhile, IPOB has hailed AI over its courage in releasing the damning report on the kill­ing of agitators by Nigerian se­curity operatives.

IPOB, in a statement is­sued on Thursday by its Me­dia and Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emma Powerful, said that the re­port had vindicated all pro-Bi­afra groups over the mass kill­ing of their members by security agents.

The group said that the AI report was an underestimation of the killings of its members by the military.

Powerful alleged that over 2,000 IPOB members were killed by security agents during their peaceful protests.

The statement read in part: “But the 150 people in the report which was given by the Amnes­ty International were not the ac­curate number of IPOB and Bi­afrans killed since August 2015 till date.

“IPOB’s records and statis­tics department gathered from all parts of Biafraland that we have over 2,000 members killed, 750 missing since then till date. We have not seen their dead bodies and we are still search­ing for them.

“We also have 567 members undergoing medical treatment in different hospitals. In the same vein, we have 370 people undergoing severe torture in dif­ferent prisons and security cells across the country in the hands of security agents.”

“As we are talking right now, the DSS and other security agen­cies in Nigeria are still searching for the members of IPOB across the country; some have been in the DSS’ secret cells for six months without trial.

“Importantly, we recom­mend the report from Amnesty international which stands bold to condemn the crime against humanity committed by the gov­ernment of Nigeria and her se­curity agencies in the eyes of the rest of the world.”