The Nigeria police authorities are now angry with Igbo people who have been agitating for the realization of the Biafran Republic, even as they are set out to exert some force to stop the agitation.The authorities asked the agitator, comprising members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra to stop threatening public peace or face the full weight of the law.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, said that the move by the police to arrest the situation followed the increasing resort to acts of brigandage by sets of misguided individuals who apparently are hiding under the cloak of MASSOB and IPOB to threaten national security and public peace in parts of South East and some other states.
Kolawole said the latest manifestation of this threat was the attempt to block the Onitsha end of the Niger Bridge yesterday.
She said the action caused major hardship to innocent and law abiding motorists and citizens.
The act, she added, also occasioned serious dislocation of business activities.
“The Inspector-General of Police notes that the increasing resort to acts of brigandage of this nature is pointing to a clear attempt by the brains behind these protests to test the will of security agencies to restore order and guarantee internal cohesion. For the avoidance of doubts, the IGP further notes, the restoration and maintenance of law and public order, and protection of lives and property remain sacred and statutory Mandate of the Nigeria Police. This Mandate, according to him, shall be fully executed in the overriding interests of the nation and vast majority of citizens and residents of the South East geopolitical Zone.
“Consequently, the Inspector-General of Police has directed the mobilisation and deployment of Police Mobile Force (PMF) across the country to reinforce security in the State Commands that MASSOB and IPOB are currently attempting to utilise as launching pad for their sinister intentions. The Assistant Inspectors – General of Police Zone 5, (Benin); Zone 6, (Calabar) and Zone 9 (Umuahia) as well as all Commissioners of Police in the affected States in the South East and neigbouring States have also been directed to henceforth maximally exercise their statutory Mandate in relation to prevention and disruption of any gathering that threatens public order and national cohesion. Any person or group of persons so arrested in furtherance to the enforcement of this order will be made to face the full wrath of the law.
“To this end, the Inspector-General of Police advises parents and guardians to call their children and wards to order as the patience of the Force is being stretched to the limit. He firmly affirmed that no individual or group interest can override the interest of the nation and that democratic values provide for exploration of rule of law to advance any concern, not the resort to endless and misguided acts of brigandage, unless there is an ulterior motive as the extant instance tends to dictate. He concluded by asserting that the Nigeria Police Force will not fold its law enforcement arms to allow few misguided elements to continually force hardships on fellow Nigerians either in the South East or any other part of the nation for that matter.” [myad]
