A northern ex-governor and serving senator has condemned the government for its use of force against pro-Biafra agitators as he says they are exercising their fundamental human rights enshrined in the constitution.
Senator Ahmad Sani Yerima
A serving senator of the federal republic of Nigerian and former governor of Zamfara state, Senotor Ahmad Sani Yerima has said the agitation by pro-Biafra protesters across the South-east and South-south has the backing of the constitution as it is an expression of their fundamental human righst as guaranteed by the constitution. He condemned the government's use of force to clamp quel the protesters.
Yerima told newsmen that the federal government and the security agencies must allow pro-Biafra agitators carry on their protests and cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigeria Armed Forces against the use of force on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Survival of the Sovereign State of Biafra ( MASSOB), saying the groups were on a legitimate struggle for self-determination and should be allowed to exercise their fundamental rights. He also reminded the president that we are in a democratic dispensation and that the use of military style of leadership was forbidden.
Yarima, who was speaking in Abuja said it was wrong for people to classify the agitators who have been campaigning for the revival of the defunct Republic of Biafra as secessionist because they have legitimate rights under the Nigerian Constitution to express their views on any issue.
He said that rather than treat the agitators as rebels who must be forced to either remain in Nigeria or be crushed, the Federal Government should find out why the agitation has been growing by the day.
He warned the federal government against the use of compulsion in a democracy as it will backfire. He said the Indigenous People of Biafra must not be compelled to belong to Nigeria. He advised the Federal Government to hold a referendum in the region to ascertain if it is the wish of the majority of the people to pull out of Nigeria and form a new country instead of using intimidation and harrasment.
“These are people that want self determination. They believe that they are homogeneous in terms of tribe, language and culture and they want to live together and have their own community.
“In the end, you see, this is politics. I don’t believe in using force to make them succumb, submit or follow Nigeria and to stay in Nigeria”, he stressed.