Elder statesman, Dr Chike Obidigbo, has declared that the conspiracy of silence by Nigeria’s political class towards the deteriorating health condition of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, could plunge the country into a grave crisis.
He noted that the prolonged incarceration of the IPOB leader and refusal to allow him access to quality healthcare suggests a calculated plot to provoke Igbo people and engineer another genocidal attempt similar to the pogrom that culminated in the civil war.
Obidigbo blamed South East politicians for turning a blind eye to the alleged abuses of Kanu’s fundamental rights, noting that while politicians from other parts of the country are putting heads together to resolve social contradictions in their zones, Igbo politicians choose to live in denial.
The elder statesman decried what he sees as the hypocrisy of Nigeria’s political elite over the double standards allegedly adopted against Kanu, stressing that the troubling health condition of the IPOB leader should be a source of great worry to those in authority in Nigeria.
Recalling that only the late President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned under the apartheid regime in South Africa for fighting for the socio-political freedom of his people, Obidigbo regretted that Kanu is being punished for adopting a different approach in his agitation for a better Nigeria, where equity and justice reigns.
He stated, “We have seen people that took up arms in insurrection against Nigeria being offered amnesty.
“We have just been treated to a worrisome sight of armed bandits being received on a red carpet to discuss possible end to their villainy and murder of citizens.
“Seeing all these, it beggars belief that Nnamdi Kanu, whom Nigeria spent huge sums of money to kidnap from Kenya, is being kept in solitary confinement for calling for restructuring of the country through referendum, which is the highest expression of democratic choice.
“Many citizens have called for the review of Nigeria’s political structure, especially following the expiration of the 100 years’ amalgamation experiment in 2014.
“Why should Kanu suffer double jeopardy for expressing frustration over Nigeria’s hypocrisy? Is he the only one expressing such disgust over the malformed entity called Nigeria?”
Obidigbo noted that since Kanu’s rhetoric does not equate to the mass slaughter of innocent citizens by bandits and insurgents, it is painful that the powers that be have decided to torture the IPOB leader in ways and means that tend to celebrate terror.
He implored patriotic elders in the country with good conscience not to stay aloof and watch a few selfish politicians drag the entire country to the abyss of destruction.
Obidigbo also urged the Department of State Services, DSS, to allow Kanu access to a specialist medical consultant to disprove ongoing speculations that the IPOB leader may have been poisoned to die in detention like Russia’s Nalvany.