Former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu says the status quo style of leadership that exists within the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has “broken down”.
Odinkalu said this during a recent interview on Arise TV. He was speaking on the insecurity in the Southeast region and separatism.
According to Odinkalu, IPOB today is not limited to Nnamdi Kanu’s.
“The IPOB command-and-control structure — if it existed — is broken down. So there isn’t one IPOB. There are multiple IPOBs. And you’ve got political IPOB,” Odinkalu, a Professor said.
“In Anambra State for instance, I think one of the challenges in the election is knowing which IPOB you are talking about.
“There are political IPOB owned by partisan political actors in Anambra State. There is a faction in Anambra Central who are masquerading as IPOB. You’ve got a set of cults that are from somewhere in Ebonyi State and parts of Abia State as part of the political IPOB in Anambra State for instance. And then, you’ve got the Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB. All of them are competing for space. And there is a commercial dimension to this, because people are making money of this stuff. It’s totally messed up, that’s the truth.
“But the reality also is the incapacity of leadership, both from the federal level and from the political elites of the Southeast.”
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that last week, IPOB vowed to observe a seven-day lockdown as from November 5 in support of its detained Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, unless he is released by the Federal Government on or before November 4.
Disturbed by the negative implications of the seven-day sit-at-home directive by IPOB for the Anambra governorship election, the state and the South-East zone, and Nigeria, Ohanaeze Ndigbo had begged the separatist group to reconsider the stand.
Watch the video of Odinkalu speaking about IPOB in the interview below, from 5:30:
