Nigeria: Igbo secessionists defy government

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Nigeria's secessionist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) said Tuesday it won't halt its call for a separate homeland for ethnic Igbo, dismissing the government's threat to deal with the agitators.

"Nigeria must understand how ready we are to go to prison. They should build more illegal detention facilities because we cannot stop agitating for our right to self-determination until the Nigerian government accepts the need for a date for referendum on the question of Biafra," IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful said in a statement.

Powerful's statement was a riposte to acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s warning that the separatists desist or be dealt with. Osinbajo had also said that his consultations with leaders of ethnic Igbo and northerners showed a resolve to keep Nigeria as one in spite of scattered agitation.

Powerful, however, said their agitation is not violent and would continue regardless of Osinbajo's threat.

He added: “The Nigerian Constitution and its provisions cannot supersede international charters and treaties freely entered into by the Nigerian state where such treaties appear to render null and void the obnoxious provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.

“United Nations charter on the rights of indigenous people and African charter which was ratified and signed by Nigeria is still in place till today and overrides the Nigerian Constitution on the rights of the indigenous people to the self-determination.

“We are warning the vocal few rented saboteurs and uneducated public commentators in Nigeria to stop the perverse insinuation that Biafra agitation is all about war. IPOB is not asking for war, rather what we are asking for is self-determination and the only way to achieve that is through the internationally recognized instrument of referendum or plebiscite."