For months, “sit-at-home” protests have been taking place in Nigeria’s South East, as a prohibited group, IPOB, is seeking freedom from the entity, Nigeria.
The protest has affected government and corporate operations in the state.
As the election draws near, the Igbo Elders Consultative Forum has issued a warning, saying that anyone advocating a sit-at-home day or an electoral boycott in Southeast would be seen as an enemy of the Igbo people.
The meeting lamented the consequences of the boycott and counselled pro-Biafra organisations that the best way to gain Biafra would be via their votes and not through force.
The Igbo Elders, which included former Police Service Commission chairman Chief Simeon Okeke, former Anambra State governor Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, and professor Charles Nwekeaku among others, issued the warning on Wednesday during a press conference in Abuja.
The forum claims that since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the election is the region’s finest opportunity to produce a president.
“Extreme Activism”
Okeke, who spoke at the conference, emphasised that “elections in the South-East must be held” and urged the region’s citizens to turn out in masses to cast their votes on February 25 for the candidates of their choice.
“Anyone advocating for a house sit-in will be considered enemies of the Igbo country,” the statement reads.
“Don’t forget that your fathers and grandfathers wanted and battled for the same Biafra about 52 years ago.
“I’m telling those calling for a separate nation called Biafra.
“Millions perished in battle and from famine alone. Some of us in this room took part in that horrific conflict.
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“What makes you believe that you can win that war this time through extreme activism?
“That war was fought with guns, armored tanks, etc. We must think strategically in determining how to structure the future for our people, children, and grandchildren,” he stressed.
Also, the elders urged the people of the region to learn from history and similar situations with the method adopted across the globe.
Separate Existence
He continued: “You could argue that your demand for separate existence is a basic human right.
“But the quest for a separate existence is not restricted to Nigeria.
“In Britain, for instance, Scotland, which is part of that country, is seeking a separate existence. So is the case in Spain, where Barcelona is demanding the same.
“None of them is demanding it by killing and maiming their fellow countrymen and women, by imposing a needless sit-at-home order.
“They do it by participating actively in their country’s general elections, where they sponsor candidates who will be their voice in their parliament.
“They argue their case and push it via a referendum to decide which way to go.
“Why not borrow a leaf from them and pursue your demand in a civilised manner?
Never Through Violence
“You can never get Biafra through violence, slaughtering yourselves, or sitting at home when parents should be at work and children should be in school.
“South-East residents have been coerced into complying with a sit-at-home order.
“This irregularity, which has also been extended to the Election Day, when people are looking forward to using their vote to speak their minds, must not be allowed to happen.
“It is for this reason that the combined voices of elders, youths, men, women, and our retired military and paramilitary officers have come out to state unequivocally and reject this situation in its entirety”.
