The management of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has decried the exclusion of 1443 repented Biafran Agitators and Igbo militants from the Federal Authorities’s Amnesty programme beneath the navy’s Operation Secure Hall (OPSC).
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a press release issued on Sunday by Okechukwu Isiguzoro and Thompson Ohia, its Deputy President Common and Nationwide Spokesman described the transfer as unjustifiable.
The Igbo socio-political group famous that since its inception, the Nigerian authorities has granted amnesty to over 2600 ex-combatants, but not a single Igbo ex-combatant has been allowed to profit.
Additionally describing the exclusion of Ndigbo from nationwide reconciliation and rehabilitation efforts as not solely offensive but additionally a transparent act of marginalisation.
The group additional referred to as on President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, intervene and finish the injustice towards the Igbo race.
“Whereas we, within the spirit of constructive dialogue, commend the Federal Authorities for its amnesty initiatives prolonged to 700 repented Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists, predominantly from the northern areas, we should ask: why does the Federal Authorities afford such beneficiant consideration to reintegrating over 700 terrorists, whereas denying the identical alternative to 1443 repented Biafra Agitators and Igbo militants?
“The Nigerian folks, particularly the Igbo, are entitled to demand a proof for this obvious disparity. Why is the Federal Authorities’s De-Radicalisation, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration (DRR) Programme seemingly designed to profit northern terrorists solely, whereas Southern Nigerian militants—notably the 1443 repented Biafra Agitators—are deliberately excluded?” Ohanaeze queried.
Additionally acknowledging FG efforts in the direction of the rehabilitation of former terrorists, the organisation mentioned the failure to include repented militants from the Southeast undermines the broader targets of nationwide unity, peace, and safety.
“We strongly urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the Nationwide Safety Adviser to the President, to urgently handle this matter and rectify the gross oversight in nationwide coverage.
“It’s unconscionable for the Southeast and all the Igbo nation to be excluded from all Federal Authorities Amnesty Programmes, in addition to from the recruitment initiatives for the Nationwide Forest Guards.
“This exclusion isn’t solely a betrayal of the ideas of justice and fairness but additionally an affront to the numerous Igbo households affected by the continued violence and insecurity ensuing from these misguided insurance policies,” it added.