Extradite Simon Ekpa to come and site-at-home with us – Gov Uzodinma tells military, FG
Hope Uzodimma, the governor of Imo State, has reaffirmed the necessity of establishing calm and putting an end to the insurgency in the South-East while supporting calls for the extradition of separatist Simon Ekpa, who resides in Finland, in response to the unlawful Monday sit-at-home order.
This occurred the day after the Senate urged the Federal Government to work with the Finnish Government to repatriate Ekpa to Nigeria for prosecution and denounced the order being carried out by a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Uzodimma disclosed his views on Friday during a familiarization visit from Major General Hassan Dada, the new General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Enugu, at the Government House in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.
“What is topmost in our cases is this popular sit-at-home order. There’s one man called Simon Ekpa somewhere in Finland,” he said.
“It is our hope that the security agencies, particularly the military, working with the Federal Government, will be able to either bring Simon Ekpa back to Nigeria to also sit at home with us or be made to face the wrath of the law.”
He discussed the detrimental effects of the illegal sit-at-home directives and assured the new GOC and his staff of his and the Imo State population’s support.
In a similar spirit, the governor urged for their cooperation in halting the tide of insecurity and aiding the government and security services in battling crime when he met with traditional leaders and local leaders in Owerri at the headquarters of the Traditional Rulers Council.
He urged them to avoid any orders to stay at home and conduct their legal work instead.
Meanwhile, Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, has ordered Simon Ekpa, a Biafra agitator living in Finland, to put an end to all sit-at-home protests in the Southeast.
His statement reads;
“I am ordering you to make a public announcement to the effect that you are in receipt of a direct order from me to cancel any pending sit-at-home in place at the moment.
“I embarked on this movement to liberate our people, not to enslave them. I despise and will despise any person or entity that wishes to inflict unnecessary hardship on our people. I have authorised Aloy to issue a press statement if you fail to make this announcement on your platform.
“Anybody still engaging in sit-at-home is not my disciple. Haters of Biafra and mindless murderers in uniform are hiding under the cover of combating enforcers of Sit-at-Home to unleash mayhem against the same people we swore to defend.
“I have sent countless messages to those purportedly enforcing sit-at-home that they are not doing so in my name. I am not begging anybody to release me, just that Nigeria should have the decency to obey their own laws.”