*Gives Northern Muslims in South East 2-weeks to leave
Tony Edike
04 January 2012, Sweetcrude, ENUGU—A new Igbo revolutionary movement, Ogbunigwe Ndigbo, emerged yesterday with a declaration that it would take up arms in defense of Igbo people across the country just as it gave two weeks ultimatum to all northern Muslims residing in the South East states to leave the zone as their safety would not be guaranteed after the period.
In an electronic message entitled “Enough is enough” and signed by “General” Red Devil Nwokolo, who described himself as Commander of the Peoples Army, the group introduced itself as “a counter terrorist group sworn to the protection of Ndigbo and to avenge any drop of blood of our brothers shed any where in Nigeria.”
The Ogbunigwe Ndigbo noted that it has “watched with pains in our hearts the massacre of our people in the northern part of Nigeria and it is obvious that the federal government is not capable of protecting the lives and property of Ndigbo.”
According to the group, the recent Christmas bombings has strengthened its resolve “to raise arms and defend our people”, adding that they would use “extreme violence” to protect Ndigbo where necessary.
The statement said: “We have watched the killing of our people all over the North by Boko Haram terrorist group and we are declaring war on this group and any other group that sheds the blood of our people. We are not new in the act of defending our people, we have done it before and this time will not be an exception.
“We are going to target the sponsors of this inhumanity against our people; we will target their economic interest and their families. We will use every means possible to kill them and their corroborators even if those corroborators are our people. Ndigbo will not continue to be guinea pigs in a country where we have labored so much to build. Enough is enough. We have resolved to make this sacrifice even with our lives for the safety and freedom of our children unborn.”
The group further said that it has lined up a programme of action for 2012 to demonstrate its willingness and ability to protect and defend their people but would observe a full month of non-action in January.
It however announced its action plan for the month of February to include: “February 1: All Igbos nationwide will boycott the purchase and eating of beef until February 10. This is to demonstrate our economic importance to our oppressors.
“February 13. All Igbos all over the country will close shops and abstain from work to demonstrate our total disenchantment over the Christmas day bombing.
“February 14th. We will detonate a bomb in a safe place within the country. This is to avoid casualties and the killing of innocent people. Subsequently these bombs will be used to target the financial infrastructures of the sponsors of Boko Haram and their immediate families.
“With this notice, we are giving all northern moslems residing in the South East a two weeks ultimatum to leave the South East as we can no longer guarantee the safety of such tenants in the face of this senseless killing of our people. We want to remind the Boko Haram group that nobody has a monopoly of violence.”
Continuing, the Ogbunigwe Ndigbo said it would continue to operate underground and would “return fire for fire with any arm of the government that interferes with our program”, stressing that they had been patient for a long time watching the security operatives treat violent Boko Haram members with kid gloves and diplomatic negotiations while non violent groups in the East like MASSOB was being hounded into detention and killed daily.
“He who makes peaceful resolutions impossible makes violent resistance inevitable. We will stop at nothing to redeem the labors and the blood of our past heroes. Until the last man and the last pint of blood, No Retreat No Surrender,” it declared.