•Kanu urges residents to ignore sit-at-home, make Mondays economic empowerment days
•Ekpa is recruited agent on dangerous mission to destroy Igbo land
•FG must act now and engage Finnish Government to caution Ekpa
•He is evil agent being used by enemies to destroy Igbo land—IPoB
RESIDENTS of South-East region have again attacked Simon Ekpa for not obeying the directive of IPoB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who wrote and urged him to ensure that peace and calm reign in Igbo land, saying there must be total cessation of any form of sit-at-home in the region. Ekpa who has consistently claimed to be a disciple of Kanu, however said he would not obey the directives, a clear indication that he is actually not working in the interest of Kanu and IPoB or Ndigbo.
Kanu had in a hand-written letter delivered through his lawyer, Alloy Ejimako, directed Ekpa who claims to be fighting for him, to immediately terminate the destructive Monday sit-at-home and any other sit-at-home, as they are stifling the economic and social growth of the South- East. He said that those enforcing sit-at-home are not doing so in his name, but hiding under that cover to unleash mayhem against the same people they swore to defend.
Kanu’s special counsel, Alloy Ejimako had in a press conference in Enugu, made the hand-written letter public, disclosing that Kanu issued the directive to Ekpa on Monday, July 24, and asked him to transmit the letter to Ekpa which he did. But Ekpa refused to make the announcement as instructed by Kanu, prompting him to make the letter public via a press statement as instructed by Kanu.
“Simon, this is a direct order from me. I hereby instruct you to desist from calling for any sit-at-home henceforth.
“Equally refrain from antagonizing governors or persons in political positions because you are not in a position today to know what they are doing on my behalf.
“I am ordering you to make a public announcement to the effect that you are in receipt of a direct order from me to cancel any pending sit-at-home in place at the moment.
“I embarked on this movement to liberate our people not to enslave them. I despise and will despise any person or entity that wishes to inflict unnecessary hardship on our people.
“I have authorised Alloy (Ejimako) to issue a press statement if you fail to make this announcement on your platform.
“Anybody still engaging in sit-at-home is not my disciple. Haters of Biafra and mindless murderers in uniform are hiding under the cover of combating enforcers of sit-at-home to unleash mayhem against the same people we swore to defend.
READ ALSO : Letter Declaring End Of Sit-at-Home: Nnamdi Kanu Is Having Mental Issues – Simon Ekpa Reacts
“I have sent countless messages to those purportedly enforcing sit-at-home that they are not doing so in my name. I am not begging anybody to release me just that Nigeria should have the decency to obey their own laws.
“The main issue which our people should address their minds to is the unconscionable delays in hearing the government appeal at the Supreme Court, which is a situation not amenable to any sit-at-home. Therefore, sit-at-home is a waste of time, resources and energy.
“Those who may not understand the genesis of the sit-at-home should refer to my younger brother’s press statement on the eve of the commencement of the original order issued by the IPoB family. My brother made it clear to the DOS that I was against the order for people to stay at home under whatever guise. This caused a rift between my siblings and DOS till date.
“Aloy should use the above contributions to form the main body of the press statement. I want our people to know how this whole sit-at-home brouhaha started. Had DOS obeyed my direct instructions to cancel the first Monday sit-at-home, opportunistic scavengers would not have jumped on the bandwagon to wreak havoc on our people.
“You (Alloy) must release the press statement tomorrow with the screenshot of the handwritten note I gave to you unfailingly”, Nnamdi Kanu said in the letter.
IPoB confirmed the letter as being an authentic document from their leaders. But Ekpa expressed doubt over the letter and said he would not obey the directive, an action that goes to confirm that he never genuinely see Kanu as his leader as he claims.
Reacting to Ekpa’s position, IPoB said: “The reckless and abusive sit-at-home strategy is from the autopilot group led by Simon Ekpa. We have consistently made it known that Simon Ekpa and his autopilot group are not IPoB members and do not represent Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in their violent enforcement of sit-at-home orders.”
Liaise with Finnish Govt. to tame Ekpa and his group —Prof. Igwe
A political scientist, Prof. Obasi Igwe urged the Tinubu administration, if they mean well for the zone, to “liaise with the Finnish and other relevant authorities to bring Ekpa and his criminal associates to book.”
Ekpa is not working for Kanu’s interest; he is an enemy—Enugu resident
An Enugu resident who gave his name simply as Emeka said: “We expect Ekpa, who claims to be a disciple of Kanu to listen to him and respect his call for peace in Igbo land. He ought to ensure that peace reigns in Igbo land while effort is made to release Kanu. But we are surprised that somebody who claims to be working for Kanu’s release will be declaring sit-at-home and unleashing killers on the people to enforce it. Ekpa and his group, if they mean well, should help to ensure security in Igbo land and work peacefully for the release of Kanu and not creating insecurity and killing their brothers and sisters.”
Simon Ekpa is Kanu’s enemy— Igbo youth leader
Notable Igbo youth leader, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, insisted that anyone levying death, insecurity, fear and collapse of businesses in the South-East is an arch enemy of Nnamdi Kanu and Ndigbo.
“There was a viral video from one of Kanu’s court appearances where he stated that he wants Biafra land to be calm and that he was in detention to save Igbo, and not to see them dying. So, anyone doing anything that is bringing death, insecurity and fear as well as collapse of businesses in the South-East, is a big enemy of Nnamdi Kanu and the Biafra restoration. Mr. Ekpa’s activities and utterances show him as a core enemy of Nnamdi Kanu”, Igboayaka stated.
Also, the President of Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders, COESYL, Goodluck Ibem said Ekpa is not fighting for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.
“Simon Ekpa is not fighting for the release of Nnamdi Kanu or interest of Ndigbo; he is fighting for him to remain in detention. The truth is that somebody who claims to be agitating for his people cannot be unleashing mayhem on them and killing the same people he claims to be defending. Simon Ekpa is a government agent working so hard to destabilize the South-East so that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will not be released.”
Enugu-based trader, Emeka Obi said that Simon Ekpa must have strong backing from high quarters to be causing these havocs in the South-East. If not, why has the Federal Government not activated diplomatic engagements with the Finnish Government to rein in Ekpa who is also a Finnish citizen?
“I believe that the Finnish Government would not be happy to see her citizen destroying a part of another nation. So, if the Federal Government, which has the diplomatic power to engage Finland on Ekpa’s nuisance, takes action, Finnish authorities will act and call him to order. He has been unleashing terror on his people. This young man cannot continue to hold the entire region to ransom for his selfish interest”, Obi said.
Simon Ekpa was groomed to destroy IPoB.
Scolding Ekpa for doubting the letter of their leader, IPoB denied Ekpa, accusing him of working against the group and being used by the FG to sabotage them.
“The violent enforcement of infamous sit-at-homes, kidnapping for ransom and snatching of cars, humiliating market women and school children, cannot be traced to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu or IPOB. Simon Ekpa is a well known agent of the FG of Nigeria, sufficiently (allegedly) paid by the DSS for the evil course he is presently championing on our land. Our people are therefore directed to ignore any media publication or falsehood attributing Simon Ekpa to IPoB membership or as a follower of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Simon Ekpa is the head of autopilot group and their phantom Government in Exile.
“IPoB is not the same as autopilot group. The said Government in exile that exists only on the lips of Simon Ekpa and his few cohorts has no link or connection whatsoever to IPoB which is a global peaceful movement with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as the leader,” IPoB said.
Kanu has asked South-East region to set aside Mondays as economic empowerment day. Insisting on total cancellation of all forms of sit-at-home in the entire South-East region, Kanu urged the people of the zone to turn Mondays as Economic Empowerment Day, EED, against sit-at-home. He encouraged them to embark on massive deployment of their resources for the “empowerment of the educationally disadvantaged and poverty-ridden population of our people.”
“Through education, employment, health services, sense of identity and community, our people and indeed, the Eastern region can begin to thrive and grow. There is an urgent need to reclaim our lost glory by embarking on empowering Biafrans with the resources they need to live beyond mere subsistence as our people are known globally for hard work, resilience, and great achievements,” the IPoB leader tasked them.
“Anybody questioning the authenticity of the handwritten letter suspending further Monday sit-at-home is patently dishonest and not worthy to be called a Biafran. Anybody who claims to know Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will also know that nobody will be courageous enough to coerce him to do anything that will jeopardize the restoration of Biafra. Therefore, enough is enough. It is high time you consolidated efforts to rebuild our once envied Eastern region”, IPoB said through its spokesman, Emma Powerful.
Source: Vanguard
