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“Ala Igbo is bleeding” – IPOB lawyer laments over kidnappings, killings in southeast

Human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has condemned the abduction of Emmanuel Okoh, a social critic popularly known as “Okwuluorah”.

In a statement issued on Friday, Ejiofor described the incident as a tragic reflection of the internal decay plaguing the South-East, warning that the region is “bleeding” from wounds inflicted by its people.

Okwuluorah, a native of Enugu state, was reportedly kidnapped in Umuaka, Orlu LGA of Imo state—just metres away from a military checkpoint.

Ejiofor said: “This was no random abduction. It was a symbolic tragedy, a revealing crack in the very soul of Ala Igbo.”
He said the abductors were not outsiders but locals who “spoke his language, knew his background, and shared his roots”.

“Perhaps the most horrifying part? His captivity occurred only a few meters away from a military and police checkpoint,” he added.

Ejiofor questioned how a land once known for unity and resilience had descended into a state of internal terror.

“We have spent too many years blaming external aggressors and distant enemies. But today, the most urgent enemy resides among us, and sometimes, within us,” he said.

According to him, Okwuluorah’s near-death experience affirms the quiet fear that “a faction of our own kith and kin have turned Igbo land into a hunting ground, desecrating its sacred spaces and sacrificing our communal peace on the altar of greed, anarchy, and lawlessness”.

He said entire communities in Imo state now live under siege, with markets silenced, traditional rulers in hiding, and young men forming violent militias under the watch of security agencies.

“Imo state is bleeding. Igbo land is bleeding. And the wounds are no longer from external blows. They are self-inflicted, cut deep by betrayal, silence, fear, and complicity,” he lamented.

Ejiofor called for a return to the spirit of unity and defiance that birthed the Igbo identity.

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