Governors, senators and ethnic groups on in on Sunday kicked against the weekend’s assault on Senator Ike Ekweremadu by members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in Nuremberg, Germany.
Former Deputy Senate President Ekweremadu was in the German city to speak at the Second Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organized by Ndi-Igbo Germany when he was attacked by people who claimed to be sympathisers of IPOB, claiming that he did not represent the southeast appropriately.
They also threatened to mete out the same treatment to governors and other leaders from the region on visitation to Europe, the Nation reported.
The outlawed group listed other leaders on its watch list to include Governor Dave Umahi (Ebonyi); Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu); Willie Obiano (Anambra); Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ohanaeze Ndigbo President-General Nnia Nwodo.
The 64-seconds video of the attack on Ekweremadu, which went viral, showed how the protesters physically assaulted the senator and tore his traditional jumper (Isi Agu) to shreds before he was spirited away by the organisers from the venue of the event before the police were called in.
South East Governors, speaking under the auspices of the Southeast Governors Forum (SGF), described the order given by IPOB to its members to attack governors and other Igbo leaders as “empty threat”.
They argued that attacking them would not solve the problem of IPOB’s agitation for the state of Biafra.
SGF Chairman and Ebonyi State David Umahi in a statement by his media aide Emmanuel Uzo, said: “They have no such spread and powers to track down South-East governors for attack anywhere in the world. They are too small. I don’t want to say they sound so cowardly, but they can’t see the governors to attack.”
Umahi said the governors had no problem IPOB members to warrant such an order.
According to him, the insecurity in the Southeast was a national challenge that was under the Federal Government’s command and control.
He said: “If there is any issue IPOB holds against the governors, they should come home to settle it in Igboland instead of a foreign land.
“What happened was a security issue which was within the purview of the Federal Government. Attacking governors in a foreign land is a wild goose chase. We love them because they are our children.
“IPOB cannot achieve Biafra alone, except with the collaboration of all stakeholders including the governors. They don’t need to attack the governors to achieve Biafra.”
The governor warned them not to allow political opportunists to use them to destroy the Southeast.
“They should come together and work with the governors and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo to achieve the Igbo presidency in 2023 instead of fighting the governors. We want them to be close to us instead of taking the struggle to the international arena,” Umahi said.
Delta Governor Ifeanyi Okowa also condemned the attack on Ekweremadu.
His Chief Press Secretary Olisa Ifeajika said the incident was pathetic, shameful and an embarrassment to Nigeria.
He said Ekweremadu had been a great patriot and defender of his people as well as the down trodden, and did not deserve the kind of ill-treatment meted to him by Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members in Germany.
“I join men of goodwill in condemning the attack on Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who has been a great patriot and leader of exemplary behaviour.
“It is pathetic and shameful that an event organised to chart the way forward for the Igbo race and Nigeria in general ended up in such a disgraceful and embarrassing manner to the country.
“As Nigerians, we are trained to respect our elders and leaders as well as people in authority.
“I am particularly happy that some of the culprits have been arrested and I urge the German authorities to take necessary action on the perpetrators of the heinous act.
“I urge all Nigerians, home and abroad, to be of good behaviour wherever they find themselves as such acts of lawlessness do not bring glory to the nation,” he said
The Senate leadership rose in solidarity with Ekweremadu.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan; Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege; Minority Leader Eyinnaya Abaribe and Chief Whip Orji Uzor Kalu condemned the attack in separate statements.
Lawan said: “It’s incredibly absurd for any group to blame Ekweremadu for the spate of insecurity in the Southeast. The attackers had fingered Ekweremadu alone of the Igbo leaders ‘conspiring’ with outsiders to terrorise the zone.
“It is incredibly absurd for anybody to blame the distinguished senator for the violent criminal activities in his home base, the purported reason cited by the mob for the bewildering attack.
“Senator Ekweremadu, like all his distinguished colleagues in the Ninth Assembly of the Senate, is concerned about the insecurity and other challenges in that area and other parts of Nigeria. Senator Ekweremadu has also been at the forefront of the patriotic efforts to find lasting solutions to the challenges.
“The barbaric attack on Senator Ekweremadu at a forum to which he was invited to contribute to charting a course for the progress and happiness of Ndigbo debase our values as civilised people. It is most reprehensible and should be condemned by all right-thinking Nigerians.”
The Senate President urged the German authorities to identify those involved in the despicable act so that the law can take its course against them.
Omo-Agege said the attack was not only a dastardly exportation of irrationality, but also an aggressive international affront against the image of Igbo and Nigeria.
Speaking through his media aide, Yomi Odunuga, the Deputy President of the Senate expressed shock over the undeserved assault and called on law enforcement agencies in Germany to investigate and bring to book all those involved in the vicious attack.
Omo-Agege said: “The aggressively discourteous IPOB elements that carried out the disgraceful assault have shown themselves as enemies of democratic norms and values.
“What they did is not only a violent assault against the good image of the Igbo race across the world, but also an aggressive attack against the traditional norms of a people known to be hardworking and respectful of meaningful contributions by leaders such as Senator Ekweremadu.
“Such disappointing physical abuse also grossly disregards Senator Ekweremadu’s democratic antecedents and his long-standing commitment to the cause of his people. But, as he has said out of the usual largeness of his forgiving heart, these people know not what they do.