Human rights lawyer and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu, has said that the major security challenge confronting the South-East region is cultism financed by politicians, not the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), as widely believed.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Thursday, Odinkalu maintained that the IPOB issue in the region is overexaggerated.
“Unfortunately, there is an IPOB issue, but the IPOB issue is overblown. If somebody tells you that Obosi in Anambra State is an IPOB issue, that person is a liar. IPOB cannot survive in Obosi,” he said.
Odinkalu criticised the tendency to attribute every violent or criminal incident in the South-East to IPOB, saying such generalisations ridiculous.
“The idea that every issue in South-East is an IPOB issue is ridiculous. It’s absolutely not the case,” he said.
He added, “Let me tell you this. The biggest single issue, in security terms, confronting the South-East, in my estimation, based on the work I have done on this, is — I regret to disappoint you — not IPOB. It is cultism financed by politicians.”
“You don’t have a clue how terrible the problem of cults in the South-East is at this particular time,” Odinkalu noted.
While acknowledging the possibility of some overlap between cult groups and IPOB members, Odinkalu stressed that the two issues are distinct.
“Is there a crossover between that and IPOB? Possibly. But cults financed by politicians — that is the biggest single security challenge confronting the South-East at this time,” he said.
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