The Indigenous People of Biafra has cautioned former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon over his recent comments against the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and the Civil War.
Gowon had, in an interview with a private television station, alleged that the civil war broke because Ojukwu went on a television and gave his account of the Aburi accord, which was at variance with what was agreed upon, thereby deceiving the people of Biafra into going to war against the Federal Government.
"We agreed to put our heads together, to regain the trust and confidence of Nigerians. We went to Aburi, to agree to deal with the situation of our country, by ourselves.
"We did not go with any prepared position on the federal side, but, Ojukwu came with a paper he prepared. His prepared position was on a pink paper. Usually, pink paper at the Staff College is directing staff solution to the problem,” he was quoted as saying.
But IPOB in a statement issued yesterday by its Media and Publicity, Emma Powerful, described the comment by the former Head of State, as "total falsehood from the mouth of a hater," saying that he feigned illness to avoid telling Nigerians what was agreed upon at Aburi.
The group expressed worry that Gowon could lie against his colleague, Ojukwu who is already late, insisting that it would not let anyone distort history, especially as it has to do with the civil war.
The statement party read, "At the ripe old age of 83 and with the little window God still has left open to him to repent and show remorse, Yakubu Gowon has chosen to continue to deceive himself with his bouquet of falsehood.
"It was the Labour Party government of Britain that cleverly convinced the Arewa North to put pressure on Gowon to feign illness, thereby making it difficult for him to tell the country what was agreed in Aburi because they were not comfortable with the agreement.
"Today, Gowon whom we are led to believe is a prayerful Christian has said he wasn’t able to speak when he returned from Aburi because he was ill. Question is: Was his information minister also ill? Were all Government spokesmen in Lagos also down with illness at the same time, that made it difficult for Lagos to make a pronouncement on Aburi Agreement several weeks after the meeting?
"This day and age, any attempt to rewrite the history of Biafra-Nigeria war will be intellectually resisted and objectively dismantled. Fake history is at the core of why Nigeria will never be united. Gowon must come clean, apologise and make atonement.
"We are IPOB, we won’t allow distortion of historical facts, neither will we allow the denigration of the revered memory of our all time hero Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. He remains till date, the only man that tried to bring genuine independence, not mere flag independence, to an African nation."
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