The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has said any Igbo person who Insults lawyers representing the group is a slave and traitor, stating that he will not tolerate any form of distraction, division or in-fighting in his peaceful movement.
The IPOB lead counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Owerri following the recent visit of the legal team to Kanu at the detention facility of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Abuja.
Kanu asserted that he would no longer tolerate a smear campaign against IPOB and the legal team.
The statement said, “Consistent with the subsisting order of the court, we paid our routine visit on Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. We availed ourselves of the opportunity afforded by the visit to brief Onyendu on several issues.
“First, we acquainted him with the level of preparedness for the preliminary skirmishes that will take place in court in the criminal charge preferred against him. As you all know, proceedings in the criminal charge will resume on the 16th instant.
“Second, we briefed him on the smear campaign orchestrated against my good self by traitors and desperate enemies of the struggle, aimed at causing disharmony within the fold and needlessly generating ill feelings.
“Onyendu was thoroughly ashamed by the utter infantile mendacity inherent in the smear campaign and the unimpressive, unintelligent, wobbling, and poorly thought-out strategy that informed the whole endeavour.
“He advised that I should quickly ignore and consign the halfhearted attempt of such a despicable lot to the garbage bin and resist every attempt by them to distract me. He was not at all rattled or perturbed by the news of the smear campaign but rather re-emphasised the unshaken trust and confidence he has always reposed in me.”
“He observed that any true son or daughter of Igbo land that opts to take the pleasure of making derogatory or disparaging publications against my good self or any of his other lawyers is guilty of cheap blackmail and must be pitied for condescending to an abysmal level. Such a person must be seen, not only as a contemptuous slave but also as an irredeemable traitor to the entire Igbo race.
“Further, Onyendu warned that he will not tolerate any form of distraction, division or in-fighting in his peaceful movement. He commended the dedicated officials at the helm of affairs of the movement for living up to expectation.”