IPOB member disappearance: family appeals to security agencies
A passionate appeal has been made by the family of one Mr. Okoro Ndubuisi David to the Nigeria Security Forces to release him or return the corpse to the family if he is dead for proper burial ceremony according to the tradition and culture concerning the dead.
Mr. Okoro Ndubuisi David, who hails from Bende Local Government Area of Abia State according to a source was a branch leader of IPOB in Umuahia, was said to have travelled to Imo state to join other members of IPOB for a peaceful protest for the release of their leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
He was suspected to be arested along four others IPOB members armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), in Ezioha, Eziama Autonomous Community, Mbaitoli Local Government Area last week.
The state police spokesperson, Henry Okoye, disclosed on Sunday that the operation also extends to Njaba and other affected areas, emphasizing the government’s dedication to ensuring the safety of all communities in the state.
He said: “During this operation, security forces successfully neutralized four suspected terrorists and arrested five others following a protracted gunfight with the terrorists.
He said that the Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma, and Brigadier General U.A. Lawal, Commander of the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, commended the professionalism of the joint security operatives.
“The operation is part of the state’s commitment to safeguarding all its communities,” he said.
According to the family spokesperson, Mr. Chika Okoro, who spoke to journalists stated that Mr. Okoro Ndubuisi David, had left home to Imo state early in the morning to join other IPOB members in a peaceful protest demanding for the sovereign state of Biafra Land, due to flagrant abuse of power, neglect and marginalization of the Southeast by the Nigeria Government.
Until now, the whereabout of Mr. Okoro Ndubuisi David is yet to be established.
Meanwhile, the defence headquarters had in 2017 tagged IPOB a terrorist organisation, though no ammunition or prohibited weapon was seen with them.
A federal high court in Abuja also proscribed the group, and declared its activities acts of terrorism.
This deepened the agitation of the group in the country as different citizens challenged that to be unlawful and unconstitutional, as the group carried out no act of terrorism while the real terrorism are committed daily by the boko haram and the fulani herdsmen but because they are of nothern extraction were not poscribed despite their heinous terrorism activities.
Before now the indigenous people of Biafra has condemned the attacks, rapes, destruction of farmlands by herdsmen and killings going on in the south eastern part of Nigeria.
The IPOB were peacefully demanding for equal rights as citizens of Nigeria or immediate separation from Nigeria to become independent sovereign state of their Biafra land.
The group also accused the Nigeria military and its other security outfits of sponsoring attacks in the marginalised south eastern parts of the county.
At the moment, report from the IPOB sources says that the reason why Nigeria security forces are carrying out house to house search and killings of innocent IPOB/ESN members including women, children and destruction of properties is to weaken the agitation for a sovereign state of Biafra.