A former Director of the Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, on Monday said the federal government needs to de-proscribe the Indigenous People of Biafra as a terrorist organisation to give way for dialogue and a reasonable solution to the security challenges in the south-east.
The former DSS director stated this in an interview with Punch on Monday.
Ejiofor disclosed that the people of South-East complied with the IPOB’s sit-at-home order because they feared they fear that there might be clash between security agents and operatives of IPOB’s Eastern Security Network.
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Recall that the leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu ordered a sit-at-home on Monday (Today) in states in the South-East to mark the 54th anniversary of Biafra.
Ejiofor while reacting to the compliance of people in the region to the directive, said, “People comply with the lockdown out of fear. People are afraid of both the military and IPOB, they are afraid of the consequences of coming out. There could be a clash between IPOB and security forces and the people might be caught in a crossfire. So, the best thing to do is to stay at home.”
In the past few months, there had been attacks on police stations, offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission and other government facilities in the region.
Ejiofor when asked if the growing insecurity in the zone will affect the 2023 elections, said, “Until we get there but the government should find a way of resolving this issue before the election.”
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“Unfortunately, the government cannot engage a terrorist organisation. IPOB has been classified as a terrorist organisation. The government should look for a political solution by de-proscribing IPOB and engaging them in dialogue.
“But not only IPOB, but the government should also engage the leaders in the South-East. This will kind of douse tension because there is so much tension in the land. This is a political problem that requires a political solution. If we continue to flex muscles – IPOB on one side, the government on the other side – the citizens will suffer because when two elephants fight, the grass suffers – the citizens will suffer both economically and politically.” suffer
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