Alex Otti, governor of Abia State, has declared that his government will not confront the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in their sit-at-home directive to South East residents to honour those killed during the civil war.
The governor stated this on Thursday, May 30, 2024, while addressing newsmen in Umuahia, the state capital on the sit-at-home order given to all the five states in South East by the IPOB group recently.
“They have every right to mourn their own, especially going by the history of that war,” he said.
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Ferdinand Ekeoma, the special adviser to the governor on media and publicity, who spoke on behalf of Otti said the Abia State government was in touch with schools to ensure that students currently sitting for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in the state were not harmed.
Ekeoma explained that Otti’s administration is in touch with the stakeholders and principal actors to make sure that the academic interests of all students in the state sitting the WAEC are not hurt.
“The government is in touch with all the schools affected to see what could be done so that WAEC examinations are not disrupted. We are in touch with schools on how to handle the situation.
“We are not interested in unnecessary confrontation with the people who are appealing for sit-at-home in honour of their dead ones,” he said.
He points out the fact the incidence of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war should not be politicised, describing the onslaught as genocide against the South East by the then Nigerian government.
“We don’t have any interest in confronting those who are asking people to observe that moment of honour for those who were victims of the genocidal war.
” It’s something we are handling with wisdom and diplomacy. We are engaging with all the actors involved. We are putting measures in place that the government may not want to make public,” he said.
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Ekeoma reiterated that the most important thing for the government is to see what it can do to ensure that students write their examinations.
“There are things we don’t want to disclose. But be assured that we are putting measures in place to ensure peace in Abia State,” he said.
