Presidency + MASSOB + OPC + Ombatse
Last Friday the secessionist Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra [MASSOB] brought the Abia State capital, Umuahia to a standstill as it staged what it called a peaceful protest calling for the immediate sacking of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega. They accused him of bias […]
Last Friday the secessionist Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra [MASSOB] brought the Abia State capital, Umuahia to a standstill as it staged what it called a peaceful protest calling for the immediate sacking of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega. They accused him of bias and partisanship in the forthcoming polls.
The MASSOB members, said to number more than 1,000 marched through major streets in Umuahia chanting pro-Biafran songs. They carried placards with inscriptions such as “Jega must go,” “We the neighbouring state of Biafra want to help our brothers in Nigeria” etc. Leader of MASSOB in Abia Central zone Mrs. Comfort Ogbuokiri said their grouse against Jega was that he held secret talks with Northern leaders in order to favour the All Progressives Congress [APC] candidate General Muhammadu Buhari in next week’s election. Another MASSOB official Chief Peter Onyema said “another person with clean records” should be appointed to head INEC if the outcome of the forthcoming elections should be acceptable to all parties in the country.
The reporters there in Umuahia asked the MASSOB leaders a very good question: since they want to resurrect Biafra, why should they interfere in Nigeria’s internal affairs by seeking to dictate who should conduct election in this country? During the march they held aloft the “rising sun” emblem of Biafra. Is it not better for MASSOB to wait a little while for the Biafran sun to rise again and then dictate who the chairman of the Independent Biafran Electoral Commission [IBEC] should be?
Anyway, last Monday the irredentist Odua Peoples Cong-ress [OPC] followed suit. Its members marched under what they called Coalition of Concerned Nigerians (CCN) through the streets of Lagos also calling for the removal of the INEC Chairman. In this case however the hidden hand showed itself. Hundreds of supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan teamed up with the OPC men as they marched through Ojota to the National Stadium roundabout in Surulere. The march was led by OPC factional leader Otunba Gani Adams and it was well protected by the police. The cops did not raise a finger when some of the protesters harassed motorists, destroyed APC campaign billboards and even looted some shops.
Thank you very much, Presidency for this new Rainbow Coalition of secessionists and tribal irredentists. So who will march next? It must be Ombatse, a group that has previously proved its mettle by killing 100 policemen sent to arrest its leader Baba Alakyo and nothing happened. Ombatse can stage a very successful protest in Abuja since the federal capital is quite close to its Eggonland base in Nasarawa State. And then after that there should be a final pro-Jonathan march straight out of Sambisa Forest. It should be organised by Boko Haram.
Jamming device for card reader?
APC’s national publicity secretary Alhaji Lai Mohamed sensationally suggested on Monday that the PDP has secured the services of an Israeli expert to produce a machine that jams card readers. According to Alhaji Lai, an order has been placed for 75,000 pieces of the device at a cost of $200 each. He said the machines will be deployed at polling centres deemed to be APC strongholds where they will jam the smart card readers on Election Day, scuttle accreditation of voters and therefore the election.
Well, it will be a nice try. A field test of the card readers conducted in 12 states across the country last week showed that they functioned well and easily read permanent voter’s cards 98% of the time. They however had trouble reading the fingers of those of us with greasy, oily or otherwise soiled hands. We will therefore wash our hands before we leave home on Election Day. If however the card readers’ ability to read PVCs suddenly falls from 98% to around 10% then we must search the pockets of everyone around to see who is carrying the jamming device. Finish.