The Special Counsel for the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and its leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Mr. Aloy Ejimakor, have declared that the conduct of the referendum is legal.
The lawyer recalled that it was through the referendum that Nigeria gained the old Adamawa province and lost southern Cameroon, adding that some countries were created through the referendum.
He also said, “It was through the referendum that the then Midwestern region of Nigeria came into existence in 1964,” noting that it was through the referendum that Atiku Abubakar became a Nigerian.
During talks with The Guardian it was said by the IPOB to use the referendum to determine whether a section of Nigerians, called the Biafra, should be allowed to secede from Nigeria, Ejimacor. Said that none of those agitating for the referendum had been killed. or extraordinarily produced or even arrested as in the case of his client, Kanu.
Pointing out that all the above scenarios took place within Nigeria, not counting the many nations created through referendums like Eritrea, Kosovo, South Sudan etc., he stressed that the problem was not the separatist movement, IPOB or Nnamdi Kanu. Is.
“The problem is the misguided militaristic response to the movement, which, instead of stopping it, is actually validating the movement and pushing the Southeast and Nigeria to boot,” he said.
He said that recent UN directives for unconditional release from custody and payment of compensation have reaffirmed the separatist movement as legal and that referendums as a valid tool to resolve separatist demands.
Azimacor asked why “the call for the plebiscite by the IPOB would trigger a level of aggression that culminated in Kanu’s extraordinary rendition and crushing military operations in the Southeast.”