IPOB Members Attack Ekweremadu in Germany
The immediate past Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, was yesterday attacked by suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Nuremberg, Germany.
Ekweremadu served as Deputy Senate President from 2007 to 2019 and was re-elected for the fifth consecutive time as the Senator representing Enugu West senatorial district during the 2019 elections.
The incident occurred at the venue of the Second Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organized by Ndi-Igbo Germany where Ekweremadu was billed to give a keynote address.
Although details of the attack were still sketchy by press time, a video trending online showed some angry IPOB members throwing eggs at Ekweremadu.
In the video, the aggrieved IPOB members were heard hurling insults even as one of them shouted at the top of his voice: “They are killing your people, raping your women back home and you are here celebrating New Yam Festival. God will ... all of you…”
The scene at the venue of the Cultural Festival became rowdy and the former Deputy Senate President was immediately whisked away to safety by the organizers.
A statement by Ekweremadu’s media aide, Uche Anichukwu, quoted the senator as giving his account of the incident on his social media handle, @ iamekweremdu, assuring Ndigbo and his supporters across the nation that he was safe.
Narrating the incident, Ekweremadu said: “I attended the Second Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organised by Ndi-Igbo Germany in Nurnberg today where I was billed to give a keynote address along with the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who, however could not make it eventually.
“I was given a resounding welcome by Ndigbo in Germany and everything went smoothly until some men, who identified themselves as IPOB members stormed the venue and began to complain about the killings in the South-East, stressing that there would be no Igbo event at the venue.
“I tried to engage them, but when they became unruly, I had to leave the venue. The organisers also invited the police and I was accompanied out of the venue.
“Much as I am disappointed in their conduct, especially as I am one of the persons who have spoken up on justice for Ndigbo, the Python Dance, judicial killings in Igbo land and elsewhere both on the floor of the Senate and in my written and personal engagements with the Presidency and the media as well as rallied the South-East Senate Caucus to secure Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release with Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe taking him on bail to douse tension in the South-East, I nevertheless do not hold this to heart against them, for they know not what they do.
“I have received thousands of solidarity calls and messages from wellmeaning Ndigbo. I want to assure them that I am hale and hearty. I have also spoken with the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar”, Ekweremadu said.
Also the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide condemned yesterday’s attack on Ekweremadu by members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra in Germany.
Chief Nnia Nwodo, President General of Ohanaeze in a statement last night described the assault on Senator Ekweremadu as a disgrace.
While calling on the German law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice, Nwodo said: “The assault on Ekweremadu by Igbos in Germany, described as IPOB, is disappointing, grotesque and dangerous for Igbo solidarity.