Reprimands agitators for threatening hell on Nigeria

The former southeast spokesman for president Bola Tinubu, Denge.Josef Onoh, has addressed the latest outburst from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) with the gravity it demands.

Onoh in a statement released to newsmen in Abuja, reprimanded IPOB ‘s spokesperson’s statement, on Tuesday, for threatening “unimaginable consequences” and the outright “end of Nigeria” if anything happens to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in DSS custody.

He warned that the statement was not just an inflammatory rhetoric but a dangerous provocation that serves no one but the enemies of the Igbo.

“It is the kind of bellicose posturing that has repeatedly sabotaged every glimmer of hope for Kanu’s release and poisoned the wall of constructive dialogue.

“Let’s be unequivocal: IPOB’s threats are not the voice of a people seeking justice; they are the desperate cries of a movement that has lost its way, equating itself to the triggers of World War I, while ignoring the self-inflicted wounds it has inflicted on the Southeast.

“You warned of a ‘keg of gunpowder’ and accused the DSS of deliberate endangerment, yet you conveniently forget how your enforced sit-at-home directives, now a weekly ritual of economic sabotage, have already detonated that powder keg in our markets, schools, and homes. These are not acts of resistance. They are acts of collective punishment against the very Igbo whose cause you claim to champion. Your words do not rally align. They repel, turning potential mediators into hardened skeptics,” Onoh said.

He noted that for many years, he has been at the forefront of advocating for Kanu’s release on compassionate and strategic grounds such as on September 20 when he publicly urged President Bola Tinubu to hand Kanu over to the custody of Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta Mbata, as a humanitarian gesture to de-escalate tensions and restore investor confidence in the Southeast.

“This was not empty talk. It was a pathway rooted in equity, aligning with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda of inclusive governance. I commended the President’s diplomatic triumphs, such as the conviction of the Finland-based criminal, Simon Ekpa, whose gang has masqueraded as IPOB to unleash terror.

“Yet, every time voices like mine, or those of our governors, Ohanaeze, and traditional rulers, gain traction for political solutions, IPOB unleashes a torrent of threats that drown out reason and embolden the hardliners in Abuja to dig in deeper.”

Onoh said that the consistent undermining of the efforts is not accidental but a pattern of self-sabotage, recalling that in 2023, he prioritized Kanu’s release over Senate Presidency for the Southeast.

Onoh recalled also of him pleading for Kanu to attend trial from home to end the sit-at-home madness crippling our economy, but that what followed was more IPOB-enforced shutdowns, more violence cloaked as agitation, and zero progress toward freedom.

“You lash out at some Igbo as collaborators and political jobbers, but who are the true betrayers here? Those of us building bridges, or you, who burn them with every hyperbolic warning? History will not vindicate a struggle that prioritizes apocalypse over atonement—that demands release without reckoning for the victims of IPOB-linked atrocities, from displaced families to the blood on the hands of criminals hiding in your shadow.

“And now, this absurd saber-rattling about ending Nigeria? Under President Tinubu’s resolute leadership, such fantasies are not just impossible—they are laughable. Tinubu has stared down greater storms: from global economic headwinds to internal banditry, all while extending olive branches to the Southeast through appointments like the current Chief of Naval Staff for the Nigerian Navy Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, whereas no individual from Igbo extraction held such in the previous administration.

“Your threats will not fracture the federation; they will fracture the Southeast further. Mark my words: this path leads only to isolation and impoverishment. The sit-at-home orders you once wielded as a weapon have already ravaged our markets—Onitsha’s trade volumes halved, Aba’s factories idled, Enugu’s streets ghost towns—driving away investors and youth to Lagos and Abuja. Our GDP contribution shrinks while our people bear the brunt: empty pockets, shuttered businesses, and a generation radicalized into despair.

“You speak of grave consequences for Nigeria and the wider region, but the real crisis is the one you’ve engineered at home—a self-imposed siege that starves the Southeast of the very prosperity needed to fuel any genuine agitation.”

He urged IPOB to heed to his stern warning and desist from provocations that mock the intelligence of Ndigbo and doom Kanu to indefinite detention.

“If you truly care for his health and freedom, join the chorus for dialogue, not division. Engage with Ohanaeze, apologize to the victims of the violence your name has been dragged into, and support the political channels we are forging. President Tinubu’s administration is open to equity—witness the pardons extended to northern agitators and the crackdown on Ekpa’s thugs. But threats? They only harden resolve and deepen our isolation.

“The Igbo spirit is one of resilience and ingenuity, not ruinous ultimatums. Choose wisdom over wrath, or history will record IPOB not as liberators but as the architects of our needless suffering. Release Kanu through reason, not rupture. The keg of gunpowder is yours to defuse—if you have the courage – and if you fail to do so before the end of the year, then will you know the true meaning of late Gen. Mohammed Buhari’s statement when he said, “The southeast is a dot in a circle! Do not dare nor test the resolve and restraint of President Tinubu because i know the consequences. “Onoh advised IPOB.