Abdulrahman Dambazau, a former chief of army staff, says the
proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Oodua Peoples Congress
(OPC) share similarities with Boko Haram.
He said the OPC and IPOB are making attempts to plunge
Nigeria into ethnic war.
Speaking on Friday at the inauguration of Army War College
Nigeria Course 5/2021 in Abuja, Dambazau said both groups are exhibiting
features similar to that of Boko Haram when the insurgent group started out in
2009.
He explained that all three groups operate on the platform
of extremism alongside secessionist threats.
“They are all
non-state actors; they all have separatist agenda to carve out states out of
Nigeria’s territory; they all do not believe in the Nigerian project, its unity
and peaceful co-existence just like BH,” Dambazau said.
“They are also beginning their projects by attacking
security forces and those they consider their enemies.
“The two groups have been making efforts to ignite
nationwide inter-ethnic conflicts through their violent attacks on northern
residents or transacting businesses in the south as a quick to realise their
dream for a divided Nigeria.
“We see parallels
between BH, a religious extreme group and the IPOB and OPC, both ethnic
extremist groups. All the three groups operate on the platform of extremism.”
Dambazau, a former minister of interior, advised that the
police should be actively involved in dousing the ethnic tension across the
country.
“I believe that the multifaceted approach can be adopted and
the problem is that we think that every security issue is the military show but
we have the administration of justice approach,” he said.
“It is the primary responsibility of the police to maintain
law and order and so we need to also strengthen the police to be able to do
that aspect.”
The killings in the south-east tripled after IPOB launched
its regional security outfit codenamed Eastern Security Network (ESN).
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