The Ogirisi Igbo, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, has condemned the crisis between the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Association of Igbo Youths (AIYO), saying the conflict is man-made.
Ezeonwuka in a statement, made available to Daily Sun, said the emergence of Chief Ralph Uwazurike as the Ijele Ndigbo and himself as Ogirisi Igbo, meaning spiritual cleansing of abomination and conflict resolution in Igbo land, in 2012, means Igbo must live in unity and love for one another.
“This is a perfect plan for Igbo unity but it is now clear that some hoodlums, hiding under the unity of Ijele and Ogirisi now choose to unleash terror and mayhem on their fellow brothers, to the extent that many young people now resort to fighting and killing themselves with no serious reasons. This is bad for Igbo unity.
“I want the public to know that the Ogirisi guidelines under which an Igbo youth must adhere to, stands. Those that go outside these guidelines shall be regarded as outcast. Dangerous behaviours of Igbo youths must stop in Igbo land, harrassing of law-abiding citizens is not an Igbo trait. The Igbo youth is suppose to protect the lives and property of every law-abiding citizen living in Igbo land. Igbo youths must obey the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and ensure that government and individual projects are protected by partnering with law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute whoever disrupts the laws of the country. This is what the Igbo youth stands for and we must not allow some few miscreants to derail our unity and love for one another,” he said.
He said the AIYO is not and has never been involved in extortion, intimidation, illegal detention, beating or flogging, reprisal attack, mob action, and illegal seizure of people’s properties, stressing that its only a ploy to give a dog a bad name just to hang it.
“The conduct of Igbo youth under Ogirisi must be the example of how the Nigerian youths must behave. They should engage themselves in skill acquisition for their daily living and at all times give information to law enforcement agencies in order to flush out criminals,” he added.
He said it is an abomination for MASSOB and AIYO youths to engage in fisticuff, since both leaders of the groups continuously preach Igbo unity. “Chief Uwazurike has gone to prison on many occasions because of the love he has for Igbo. Many MASSOB members have died for the struggle they embark for the emancipation of the Igbos to the extent that many MASSOB corpses are still lying in many mortuaries. Many of our youths died during the Biafra war and are yet to get proper burial. These are issues we should concern ourselves with rather than fighting one another. Its time we stop fighting and move forward.”
