Ohanaeze rejects Buratai’s panel on killing of pro-Biafra agitators

The apex Igbo organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has re­jected the panel of inquiry set up by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, to probe the alleged killing of the Indige­nous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisa­tion of the Sovereign State of Bia­fra (MASSOB) members by per­sonnel of the Nigerian Army.

Ohanaeze, in a statement titled: “Buratai, with respect, cannot be a judge in your court” and signed by its President-General, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, said that the probe cannot stand the test of objectivity.

Nwodo highlighted cases of the Army’s brutality against the Igbo, saying the outcome of the inves­tigation would not be acceptable to the Ohanaeze.

He expressed regret that his ceaseless call for a judicial com­mission of inquiry on the Army’s brutality was ignored until Am­nesty International got involved.

Nwodo said: “In Ezu River in Anambra State, 21 bodies float­ed for two months without any­one identifying them till today. Claims that they were MASSOB members hacked down by com­bined Police and Army person­nel remain uninvestigated.”

“In Aba, IPOB members were gunned down by soldiers for just gathering to hold a meeting. No investigation was done. In Port Harcourt, IPOB claims 11 of their members were gunned down by soldiers. I called for an inquiry, nothing happened. In­stead further killings were done in Asaba,” he stated.

Nwodo stated that the Oha­naeze is not opposed to the Army Chief carrying out an in­ternal investigation in his service but declared that, “the findings of such an investigation will nei­ther be acceptable to Ohanaeze nor stand the test of objectivity until it is subjected to an impar­tial body.