The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) began distributing fliers and posters around the southeast on Saturday to inform locals of the cancellation of the region’s sit-at-home action.
Emma Powerful, IPOB’s spokesperson, disclosed this in a statement titled, “Monday weekly sit-at-home: An ugly phase of a bygone history that must never be repeated, as echoed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
Powerful added that the exercise was intended to express Nnamdi Kanu’s decision to cancel Monday’s sit-in.
According to the group, “Any person or persons talking about a non-existent sit-at-home in the south-east is an enemy of the people and shall be dealt with accordingly.
“The exercise also aims to inform the people that sit-at-home is not only “dead” but will also never again be invoked or deployed as a tool of civil disobedience in the group’s quest for self-determination,” he added.
According to him, the detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, authorised the instructions to hand out flyers and paste posters to that effect.
Powerful’s statement cautioned that anyone discussing sit-at-home in Igbo country was still an enemy of the people and would be dealt with accordingly.
The statement reads in part, “It is to be stated for the umpteenth time, for those who may feign ignorance of the laws governing the conduct expected of the IPOB family worldwide, that our supreme leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has ordered the permanent end to Monday sit-at-home in the south-east.
“Anybody seen enforcing this illegal and non-existent Monday sit-at-home will be apprehended and summarily dealt with on the spot.
“The criminal elements are not working for IPOB nor the release of Kanu, who is detained in the DSS solitary confinement in Abuja.
“Those purporting to be running a Biafra Government in exile from somewhere in Finland, also known as Autopilot, are not IPOB members, and their activities do not represent the views of Kanu, rank and file IPOB membership, or ESN operatives.
“It is a shame to the memory of our late members that gave their lives for the IPOB struggle that individuals that never led ordinary street protests in the south-east or anywhere in the world in support of IPOB can claim to lead our people.
“This is an absolute disgrace,” Powerful stressed.
He said “these shameless parasites” and their sponsors were hoping that the mere attachment of the names Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB, and ESN to their criminal enterprise would provide legitimacy to continue duping the gullible.
“The social media—Biafra Government in Exile (BGIE)—has nothing to do with IPOB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“Kanu has nothing to do with them and will never have anything to do with them.
“IPOB does not have any government in exile and will never have any government in exile.
“People who never led a protest anywhere in the world, were never detained, or held meetings with any international bodies can never claim to represent our people.
“We, therefore, encourage people of the south-east to help in the distribution of the flyers and posters to communities, hinterlands, and cities in the region, signifying the requiem mass for the senseless Monday sit-at-home.
“We warn once again that anybody apprehended enforcing any sit-at-home will regret his life, and the self-acclaimed leader of BGIE will not save such a person,” the group stated.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
