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• He goes into confinement
By Chinedu Offor, CORRESPONDENT (Washington D.C) and Chukwudi Achife
BUREAU CHIEF (Enugu), Daily Independent, 19/16/2004
Appeals came from home and abroad on Wednesday that Abuja should handle gently its face-off with former Biafran leader and the Presidential Candidate of the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA) Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
The United States State Department asked President Olusegun Obasanjo to intervene and prevent what could be "an unnecessary build-up of ethnic tension across the country".
At home, the Bishop of the Anglican Communion, Enugu Diocese, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, described the one-way ticket to Abuja given to Ojukwu as an unwarranted provocation and warned that the Igbo would not tolerate any further harassment of him or of any other Igbo person.
However, expressing a contrary opinion, an Igbo activist and South East Vice Chairman of the Bisi Akande faction of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Okechukwu Obioha, has advised Ojukwu to honour the invitation "if his hands are clean".
According to him, he would be protected by the laws of the land if he is innocent.
Ojukwu remains apprehensive. Sources close to him say he has been prevailed upon by family members and political associates to confine himself to his residence in Enugu in order to avoid a possible kidnap by security agents.
He said on Monday that he has no intention to honour an invitation by the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS) in Abuja, explaining that he turned down the invitation because he was yet to be told the reason behind it and that it was not clarified whether it was an arrest. The SSS has since indicated that the invitation is for dialogue and not arrest.
Ojukwu alleged that the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) has been detailed to assassinate himself and the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazurike.
Sources said the American Government is not taking sides on the issue, but is concerned about the potential fall-out of arresting Ojukwu.
"Our government has no wish to interfere in the internal affairs of Nigeria but the Nigerian authorities have not established any case against Ojukwu to warrant his invitation by the state security agency", government sources said.
U.S. officials are reportedly keeping a close eye on the situation and are in contact with their embassy in Abuja for advice on how to react to developments.
One of the concerns is that the arrest of Ojukwu would rally Igbos around the MASSOB. "This would elevate what is now an invitation to Ojukwu into a political and security problem, the dimension of which cannot be determined especially within the context of the civil war", a State Department official insisted.
Several Igbo associations in the U.S. have expressed support for him and warned of the consequences of his arrest.
The Anambra State Association U.S.A. said the invitation by the SSS amounts to selective enforcement of the law.
Its President Jimmy Asiegbu insisted that "the activities of groups like Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) and other ethnic militias have not attracted this kind of action from the Federal Government".
In his view, the authorities are interested in Ojukwu because of his critical comments against the government. "He and MASSOB have not committed any crime, what is really under threat is the freedom of speech and association by a government which prophesies to respect human rights".
The group is liaising with other pro-democracy and human rights associations to put pressure on Obasanjo to curtail the excesses of security officials.
In Enugu, sources confirmed that the Ojukwu family is stocking up for a possible long period of self-confinement by him. He has also tightened his private security.
His associates are not ruling out the possibility of his being put under house arrest by the SSS and he has made plans to sit out such an action.
Ojukwu told newsmen in Enugu that he is ready to receive the Director General of the SSS or his “properly introduced” representative in his residence and answer all their inquiries but would not leave the house until proper constitutional procedures and requirements are observed.
Of the possibility of house arrest, he said: “This is Nigeria, and under this administration any thing is possible, we can’t rule out anything”.
His home at 6 Isi Uzo Street, Independence Layout, Enugu was very quiet on Tuesday, sharply contrasting with the rowdy scene on Monday when hundreds of youths and sympathisers chanting solidarity songs gathered outside the gates to protest his invitation.
A close ally of Ojukwu and Secretary General of the Igbo National Assembly Onwuka Ukwa said most Igbos believe that his invitation to Abuja is part of a plan to ensure that he suffers the same fate as the late Shehu Yar’adua and Moshood Abiola – and that they would not allow such a thing to happen.
Continuing his reaction in Enugu on Wednesday, Chukwuma said he supports Ojukwu’s decision not to travel to Abuja on a one-way ticket as such an invitation is suspicious and laden with "ulterior motives".
"As far as I’m concerned, I don’t think the Ikemba has done anything to warrant being harassed. I’ve always said it, no Igbo man should be intimidated because there are other people everywhere making careless statements", he added.
Chukwuma, who stated that he is against violent political activities and any plan to disintegrate the country, however, said the motive behind the formation of the MASSSOB is not to dismember the country.
But, justifying his call on Ojukwu to honour the invitation, Obioha stressed that the country is under democratic rule where freedom of expression and association is guaranteed, adding that the laws would protect him.
On the MASSOB, he explained that the actualisation of Biafra is no longer feasible and should not be the priority of the Igbo, as they have their assets spread all over the country and would be at the greatest disadvantage if the country is dismembered.
"What we should be advocating is regional autonomy or stronger federation. I have also said that the Igbo should be allowed a shot at the Presidency for four years, they have a right to the Presidency of this country also".
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©2003 The African Independent, Inc. All rights to republication are reserved.
