Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North) has fires the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for dismissing his claims that over 30,000 Igbo people have been killed in the South-East as a result of sit-at-home orders and violent disruptions linked to the group and ESN activities.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News, the former Abia State governor slammed IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful for claiming he fabricated the death toll and accusing him of sponsoring violent separatist groups.
Describing Powerful’s statement as childish, Kalu insisted that his comments were factual and based on the human and economic losses suffered across the region.
He said: “My statement was very clear on what I said. I said there are over 30,000 Igbos that have lost their life in the process of sit-at-home, do this, do that in the South-East. Businesses were stopped. People in Ihiala and along those areas, and people in Orlu and part of all the South-East cannot go to their homes.”
“If Emma Powerful is issuing a statement, he should come on television the way I have come to address you — that is Emma Powerful with clear identity of who he is. Igbos should not be taken for a ride or for granted,” Kalu said.
While expressing sympathy for the detained IPOB leader’s family, the lawmaker stressed that the suffering of ordinary people must also be acknowledged.
“I sympathise truly with the family of Nnamdi Kanu and what has happened to them. And I want the Federal Government and everybody to think of how they can resolve the matter.
“They should think of what happened to people that lost their businesses, people that lost their lives, families that have been killed. It is a statement of fact — I don’t talk any harm,” he said.
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