The lawyer to Nnamdi Kanu and the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has condemned the proposal to arm Igbo youths against the group by Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.
Ejiofor described Gumi’s proposal to the Federal Government of Nigeria as dangerous, divisive and inflammatory.
In a statement issued on Monday, January 27, Ejiofor said that Gumi has been blinded by his questionable obsession with monetary benefits that has been linked to terrorism and banditry in the Norther part of the country.
He alleged that the clerics actions have overtime, worsened the security situation in Nigeria and violent extremism in the region.
Hesaid, “Sheikh Gumi is a complicity in Northern insecurity. He is a defender of enemies of the same. His accomplices are currently under investigation and that is why he is offering misguided advice on arming the Southeast region.
“One of Gumi’s emissaries is currently in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) for his role in promoting banditry. It is equally difficult to ignore the likelihood that Gumi covertly enables such activities while acting as their chief negotiator.
“Gumi’s inability to address the rampant terrorism and insecurity in his region makes his advice to arm youths in the South East, not only hypocritical but also dangerous,” Ejiofor said.
Stating that IPOB as a sociopolitical group stands against any form of criminality and has continuously distanced itself from criminal elements and their activities.
He said Gumi’s proposal is an evidence that the cleric has a hidden agenda to contribute to the destablisation of the Igbo land by creating a scenario where brothers turn against brothers, resulting in needless bloodshed and destruction”.
He noted that despite the “political conspiracies against Ndigbo as the most marginalised ethnic group in Nigeria, Ndigbo have resolved to take their destiny into our own hands by joining hands together to fight the real intruders who wreak havoc in Igbo land.