•Cites Niger Delta amnesty scheme as good example
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) National Chairman, Victor Umeh, wants Abuja to grant an amnesty scheme to rehabilitate members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM), citing the precedent set with Niger Delta militants.
Victor Umeh
He also sought the unconditional release of all members of the pro-Biafra groups from detention and a halt to the prosecution of others, in the spirit of national reconciliation.
Umeh, who spoke in Enugu, cited the amnesty granted Niger Delta militants and asked the government “to take this action because the MASSOB youths misused in the past by their leader have since revolted against the treatment they were subjected to for years.”
He said he is always moved to tears each time he sees Igbo youths “who have been misused by Raph Uwazuruike who traded on their emotion and sentiments for justice for the Igbo nation.”
Umeh added: “It is on record that the corpses of many MASSOB youths are littered all over the mortuaries in the South East up to this moment.
“The youths have since protested against the way they have been used by their leader in the phantom struggle for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and have already formed what they now call Igbo Ga Dimma Youth Organisation.
“The incessant manner these youths are being exposed to danger, arrested and incarcerated in various detention cells across the South East has become a great source of worry.
“There is an urgent need for the federal government to immediately set up an amnesty programme for them where they can be rehabilitated, with skill acquisition centres set up and employment opportunities created for them.”
He stressed that what Ndigbo and the Igbo youths have been agitating for over the years is “a just Nigeria” where equity and fairness are the basis for dealing with all Nigerians.
Umeh noted that the national conference is addressing some of these problems and that the South East is participating with “a crack squad of eminent responsible leaders” which include professors, diplomats, Igbo activists and elder statesmen led by Ike Nwachukwu strongly canvassing the rights of the Igbo.
“The amnesty which would resolve the palpable situation among the Igbo youths will also be a sign post towards preparing for general peace in this country.
“MASSOB youths will be ready for this amnesty programme with a view to ensuring that peace reigns in Nigeria.
“I am calling on the federal government to solve this problem by taking timely action. The template for this programme will be worked out with the federal government.”
Umeh urged Igbo youths to co-operate with Igbo delegates to the national conference to advance the rights of the South East.
He berated Uwazuruike, who he said lives in opulence but subjects Igbo youths to miserable living conditions.
“The various commanders of MASSOB have seen the need to redirect the Igbo youths for meaningful contributions to national development. The national Conference has offered the basis for a new Nigeria that will be sustained through equity and fairness.
“With the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency in the North East the federal government should take advantage of this opportunity to resolve the restiveness of Igbo youths by coming up with a well-instituted amnesty programme for them through dialogue.”
In Umeh’s view, there is nothing MASSOB and BZM members have done that is worse than what Niger Delta militants did, reiterating that their agitation has been done without violence.