The Federal government has condemned reports where in UK set to grant persecuted members of IPOB and MASSOB Asylum.
Recall that ABACITYBLOG earlier reported that UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), a division of the Home Office in the just-released ‘Country Policy and Information Note Nigeria: Biafran secessionist groups’, directed its decision makers to consider if a person “who actively and openly supports IPOB is likely to be at risk of arrest and detention, and ill-treatment which is likely to amount to persecution”.
However the minister of information Lai Mohammed reacting to this described it as a disrespect to Nigeria, sabotage on the fight against terrorism and an undermining of Nigeria’s security.
The government official spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview program on Tuesday.
Mohammed said the issue is within the purview of the Foreign Affairs Minister whom he believes will handle it appropriately.
His words:
“As the spokesman for the Federal Government of Nigeria, I will say that if indeed the report that the UK will grant asylum to supposedly persecuted IPOB and MASSOB members is true, then something is wrong somewhere.
“Against the background of the fact that IPOB is not only proscribed but also designated as a terrorist organisation here in Nigeria, the UK’s decision is disrespectful to Nigeria as a nation.
“The decision amounts to sabotaging the fight against terrorism and generally undermining Nigeria’s security. It is not only unconscionable, but it is also inexplicable,’’ he said.
Mohammed further recalled the heightened attacks against security agencies in the South East Zone, alleging that IPOB had been indicted as masterminds.
Nigeria said for the UK to choose this time to give succour to IPOB calls to question its real intentions.
“If we could go down the memory lane, what the UK has done is like Nigeria offering asylum to members of the IRA before the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement,’’ he said.
