The first bomb! IPOB?
Beware! Borno’s first bomb was also taken for granted
The first bomb has gone off in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The incident appears little but the significance is huge. Yes, nobody died, but something bigger died. The innocence of the Garden City may have been injured. The following points of significance would help us understand that what happened last weekend is bigger than noted.
Firstly. The first time a bomb went off in Maiduguri, Borno State, by the then little known Boko Haram, it was treated like a joke or mere misnomer that would fizzle out the next week. It has lived to become a national torn in the flesh such that massacre is a daily event. The economy has died off in that region. It has also spread through forms such as herdsmen, bandits, rustlers, etc across the north. So, if a bomb or dynamite is detonated in the heart of the city of Port Harcourt, and if this is attributed to any ideology-based agitators such as IPOB (Indigenous Peoples of Biafra), then, it must be taken seriously.
What it means is that such a group has elevated its agitation from mere rhetoric to hard street action and to violence. It also means such a group has found the courage to move into mass destruction stage.
According to facts so far gathered, some vigilante personnel at Azikiwe Street in Diobu, Mile Two, who were tagging in front of the Christian Universal Church International on Azikiwe Street in Mile 2 Diobu, noticed five strangers that sauntered into the church Saturday night during a programme or so. They regarded the strangers and decided against any further thoughts on grounds that anybody can enter into a church to worship.
Soon after, they heard an explosion. That was not all. They also saw the five young persons running out of the church like bats out of hell. They wasted no time, gave chase, and captured three of them and later handed them over to the Mile One police; this is in keeping with the new vigilante rule. Later, the police spokesman said the suspects were IPOB operatives, though the group’s spokesman, Emma powerful, has denied this, saying it must have been stage-managed to rope in IPOB. The group said it has no plan to endorse violent campaign armed struggle. The onus is now on the Police to prove its accusation.
It was later gathered that this attempt was not the first time the bomb attempt was made. This means a lot. Some say it is about giving a dog a bad name to hang it. Others think it is a joke taken too far. The bottom line is; can Igboland afford a bombing campaign? Anybody who has a word should speak up now, and those who have actions should take it now. The south east has truly been marginalized and neglected as well as denied its shares but terrorism will obliterate the region, surely. Even good Igbo people will flee and Igbos would be dreaded outside. Regions will lock their gates. Time to hold pan-igbo conferences and decide the way forward is NOW.
Another significant point is; the church.
Why is it that if Hausas or Muslims are angry, they bomb church, if Christians or easterners are angry, they too bomb church? What has the church done wrong? Does it not mean that evil people belong to one tribe, the tribe of violence? How can churches be bombed in a Christian state while mosques worship peacefully? Something must be wrong.
It also shows the deepening animosity between Gov Nyesom Wike and IPOB. The animosity may cross over to all Igbos despite explanations by the Governor that his actions were never targeted against any tribe but an action to save the state. Many have refused to accept that but for the clampdown on Oyigbo and IPOB by the army and the curfew imposed by the Rivers State Government, the northerners would have done the revenge themselves and mass killing would have erupted in Rivers/igbo states and counter mass killing in the north. Which army, police of FG would have controlled it? Many, including Igbo governors, and leaders who visited Rivers State on fact-finding mission have commended Gov Wike for averting national disaster and mass killing.
Few years ago, most IPOB men raised shoulders and hinted they had Wike’s sympathy. It is not clear when this well dried up. Gov Wike has consistently said all ethnic groups were free to reside and do business in Rivers State but that one tribe or group rising to kill the other is not ever going to work. The FG is backing him on this; the political groups without exception in the state are backing him on this; the armed forces are backing him on this. It would therefore be difficult for IPOB to find backers in any campaign against Gov Wike, despite the fact that IPOB leader has placed what he called N100m bounty on the governor’s head. It goes beyond it, but this has rather turned Wike into a hero. Sending were-wolfs to target the governor’s relations would only curt anger, not support, some have said.
What is important at this point is for the Igbos to begin series of conferences at all levels to decide what to be known for, to endorse some actions, and to rejects others. This is to isolate any person or group that seeks to drag the entire Igbo into needless bloodletting and total ruination of Igbo assets all over the country.
The Igbo leaders have taken the first step by taking the cue from Gov Wike who had urged them to speak out and take over the narrative from a tiny group. They came in their numbers to Rivers State and made huge statements denouncing violence and any violent demand for a republic. They made it clear that there are 11.5m Igbos in the north and 3m Igbo voters in Lagos/ West. Igbos’ biggest assets seem to be outside. Can they afford a national massacre or war?
The Igbo leaders should now begin widespread consultations and discussions and confenrces to take some key decisions and begin to push the resolutions so the world can know exactly what they want and who is not speaking their mind. The Igbo must decide what they want in politics and make it clear; Presidency? Rotation? Restructuring? Separate Republic? Or What? The Igbos must identify their path and know who is a friend, ally or enemy, within or outside. These resolutions would now determine basis of negotiations, alliances, friendship, and objectives in national politics. It would help to determine which vehicle (party) to get to destination. It would help them know what is a political bus stop or a terminal.
This is the value of the first bomb; a wake up call. This is also time for the FG to get down to serious discussions and dialogues with Igbo leaders and groups.