By Chuks Eke
Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor Esq, (KSC), the lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB and a renowned human rights lawyer, has called on Nigerians to urgently and lawfully organize themselves in defense of their ancestral lands and heritage, strictly within the boundaries of the law.
In a press statement issued to newsmen in Onitsha, weekend, via WhatsApp, Ejiofor emphasized that the current situation in the country has deteriorated to a point where every individual must be prepared to defend himself in full accordance with legal provisions.
According to the legal luminary, “it has become glaringly evident that Indigenous communities can no longer afford to rely on a system that has consistently failed to protect them”.
He further stated that the ongoing agenda of annihilation being pursued by terror groups in Nigeria can only be countered through a determined and united communal will for survival.
The statement read in part: “In the light of this grim reality, it has become glaringly evident that Indigenous communities can no longer afford to entrust their safety to a system that has persistently failed them. I, therefore, call on our people to urgently and lawfully organize in defense of their ancestral lands and heritage, within the legal parameters authorized by law”.
“The sustained annihilation agenda of these terror groups demands an unwavering, communal resolve for survival.
In the days preceeding Easter, and with chilling audacity on its eve, the nation witnessed a harrowing wave of coordinated attacks across Benue and Plateau States”.
“Dozens of innocent lives were brutally extinguished by terror herdsmen, in what has sadly become a recurrent national tragedy”.
“In an all-too-familiar pattern, the Governor of Benue State, a member of the ruling APC, addressed the press, praising the Federal Government for its support in combating these marauders. Paradoxically, he followed this praise with an appeal for further federal intervention—an apparent contradiction that underscores both the gravity of the crisis and the impotence of official responses”.
“Simultaneously, the Minister of Defence conveyed a presidential directive instructing security forces to track down and prosecute those responsible. Yet, even as these official pronouncements echoed through the media, the bloodshed continued unabated, with no decisive action yet on ground”.
“In the light of this grim reality, it has become glaringly evident that Indigenous communities can no longer afford to entrust their safety to a system that has persistently failed them. I, therefore, call on our people to urgently and lawfully organize themselves in defense of their ancestral lands and heritage, within the legal framework authorized by law”.
“The sustained annihilation agenda of these terror groups demands an unwavering, communal resolve for survival.
History will not absolve a people who, faced with an existential threat, chose silence or inaction”.
