How It All Began
In this write up, I will try to be snapy and straight to point the much I can. The events of this past one year needs to be chronicled for the benefit of those with short memory.
On Sunday, June 27, 2021 NigerÃa government announced that they have brought back Mazi Nnamdi Kanu the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) to NigerÃa.
Followers of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu got to understand that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been kidnapped in Kenya for the past eight days before he was renditioned to NigerÃa. He was severely tortured before bringing him down to NigerÃa.
Many never believed it. There was confusion everywhere. No body could make anything out of it. But to everyone's surprise, it turned out to be true. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was already in NigerÃa, brought to court and taken under DSS dungeon.
Questions continued raging. What took MNK to Kenya? How come he was kidnapped since 8 days and no body told Biafrans? Why the silence from DOS? What is really happened? It was during this confused moment that some group of IPOB women, that will later transform themselves into Umuada, in what could be best described as an interrogation, queried Head of DOS on zoom. An outcome that was later made public. There the head of DOS Mazi Chika Edoziem said that DOS were informed days after he was kidnapped in Kenya. But this did not clear the confusion. The said group pressured the head of DOS to sanction all those accused by Nelly of betraying MNK, but he declined, saying he need to investigate it first, and went further to ask them to present evidence. Imagine that he did what they told him then? What could have happened now that the accuser has become a big suspect?
During that period, Nelly Ofoegbu has been telling whoever that cared to listen that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was betrayed by members of the DOS. She also mentioned other individuals, including MNK's secretary.
This allegation caught fire the day Simon Ekpa brought Nelly Ofoegbu to his platform to cry and accuse DOS of selling out Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Who is Mazi Simon Ekpa? He was a supporter of NigerÃa politicians, especially PDP prior to late 2019. After 2019 election which Atiku lost, and the subsequent judgement by the Supreme Court of NigerÃa upholding the election of Muhammadu Buhari, Mazi Ekpa declared that he is dumping one NigerÃa for Biafra. That was at the tail end of 2019 that ushered in 2020. That cry by Nelly was so real that many gullible people took it for truth. With that dramatised allegation, many Biafrans took it out on the leadership.
News filtered in that Mazi Simon Ekpa has been directed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to start broadcasting through Radio Biafra. This news was released by Mr Ekpa on his platform. Whosoever that it was that relayed a message that should have come from DOS to Ekpa is still unknown. In that post Mr Ekpa wrote that he has accepted the order from Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to broadcast through Radio Biafra. With IPOB chain of command in place, it is expected that this news should have come from DOS. But protocol was not observed. Probably autopilot started even before it was lunched.
NigerÃa media picked up the news and started twisting it. They published that IPOB has gotten a new leader. Some wrote that Mr Ekpa has taken over from Mazi Nnamdi Kanu pending the time Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will be released. Some said he has been handed over Radio Biafra. All was to confuse the people the more. Of course, many bought it and started describing Mr Ekpa as the new IPOB leader. The truth was that Mr Ekpa was asked to start broadcasting through Radio Biafra as one of the broadcasters, just like many that were previously and currently doing so.
IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary Emma Powerful in his press release on behalf of IPOB said that Mr Ekpa has refused to broadcast through Radio Biafra and won't be broadcasting. Mazi Chinasa Nworu in clarifying the issue further said that Mr Ekpa refused to adhere to the prerequisite for broadcasting on Radio Biafra. It was later that DOS explained to Biafrans that broadcasters on Radio Biafra will have to handover their platform, before they can start broadcasting. This is IPOB standing rule. When one can't do it, he is free to reject the offer. That was exactly what Mr Ekpa did. He turned down the offer and said over his dead body will he do that. This added to the already raging problem.
Mazi Ekpa in a broadcast said that DOS should be asked to stop attacking him. That was when same Mr Ekpa has brought Nelly Ofoegbu to his platform to accuse DOS of betraying Nnamdi Kanu. How Mr Ekpa failed to understand that this his action is the mother of all attacks is what i am yet to understand.
Mr Ekpa will later come to tell us that many people were asking him to stop working with Nelly Ofoegbu. He said that nothing will make him to stop working with Nelly Ofoegbu. To made it even clearer when he proclaimed that he and Nelly is one. In his own words, he said 'I am Nelly and Nelly is me.'
Nelly Ofoegbu and Simon Ekpa started fundraising for ESN. Both of them claimed they are in charge and in control of ESN. They extended their fundraising to IPOB legal team and media. It was later discovered that neither Mr Ekpa or Nelly was actually in charge of ESN. And they aren't the ones paying IPOB legal team. They were just lying and fooling gullible ones.
Mr Ekpa will go on to unveil what he called MBranch. In that video he brought an unknown flag, men dressed in colours of that flag. An Nnamdi Kanu's portrait, with himself downwards. Something signifying that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is the leader and he is the second in command. He was seen taking salute from them. It seemed that he has made himself a leader already. All his actions points towards fighting IPOB leadership and trying to usurp them, yet he cry that they are fighting him.
DOS called for every Monday sit at home to pressure for MNK's release. Report came that MNK asked that the sit at home be called off. DOS were reluctant to do that. Kanunta Kanu in a vanguard report called off the sit at home saying that it was called off due to our children taking NECO. This to my understanding is something Kanunta Kanu as Mazi Nnamdi Kanu's brother has no right to do.
After the second week sit at home IPOB leadership under Chika Edoziem suspended the Monday sit at home. Biafrans were so unhappy. Personally, I wrote an article stating that I stand with DOS on the call off, but the people out of love for MNK continued the sit at home. I know that the leadership must have their reasons. And it didn't take time before we started seeing series of blackmails from the government against IPOB using the Monday sit at home.
Every Monday, a prominent person must be kîlled and the ugly event blamed on IPOB using Nigeria media. It appeared that the only point IPOB media got to defend themselves was the fact that IPOB has already called off the sit at home. So it doesn't make sense that IPOB will kîll to enforce the same sit at home they already suspended. Since the history of sit at home, IPOB don't enforce it. People willingly obey the call.
Mr Ekpa started dishing out orders. He already claimed that the Monday sit at home belonged to them. He declared that the struggle has entered autopilot. When this was rejected, he owned up the name and called themselves autopilot group. He went further to say that Biafrans will add Friday, Sunday and Tuesday to Monday sit at home, and it failed. To try his popularity he called for sit at home on 22nd July 2022 and it also failed woefully.
Within time Mr Ekpa started having problems with Nelly. It so degenerated to the level that Mr Ekpa had to expose what he called Nelly's nude pictures on social media. It was at this stage that Mr Ekpa told his followers that he was actually working with Nelly as to expose her. He said that it was Nelly that sold MNK. Funny enough, his followers that believed when Nelly cried on Mr Ekpa's platform that DOS sold MNK, now believed that it was Nelly that sold MNK, yet they still accused DOS.
Ekpa entertained his followers promising them that he will destroy IPOB leadership in February 2022. Yet till this day IPOB leadership is still the the ones bringing news about MNK and taking care of the day to day running of IPOB. No one among them had the courage to go to DSS Abuja Office to see MNK, at least to hear from him. IPOB will never change just to accommodate you, rather you as IPOB member must follow the principles upon which IPOB was created.
A decerning mind will understand this events and be able to differentiate the right from wrong and make amends, but few will wait until MNK comes out to tell them 'go behind me Satan'. Incase you don't know, MNK will be a free man soon.
Elochukwu Ohagi, Philosopher, Teacher And Activist, 2022.
Be sensitive and wisely thoughtful.
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