U.S. Think Tank Advises FG As IPOB, Cameroonian Separatists ‘Announce Alliance’

The United States based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has advised the Federal Government to ensure that the Nigeria Police Force and other security operatives are not violating human rights in its dealings with the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The CFR report comes after the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, announced alliance with the Cameroonian separatist group, the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC), in April.

The CFR faulted the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, for allegedly encouraging his men to ignore the rules of engagement while dealing with secessionist groups in the southern region.

Baba had while addressing the Police Mobile Force and Special Tactical Squad in Enugu said: “Don’t mind the media shout; do the job I command you. If anyone accuses you of human rights violation, the report will come to my table and you know what I will do. So, take the battle to them wherever they are and kill them all. Don’t wait for an order.”

But CFR faulted the IGP’s directive, saying: “Usman Baba is a northern Muslim from Yobe State—long a Boko Haram stronghold. He is a career police officer. There is nothing in his background that would suggest an understanding of southern and eastern grievances and fears…

“Operation Restore Peace and Baba’s rhetoric would seem tailor-made to feed the revived Biafra secessionist movement and general southern and Christian fears of a Fulani-Muslim onslaught against Christians. It should be anticipated that local people will fight back viciously and the security services—as directed by Usman Baba—will respond in kind. It is to be hoped that President Buhari will repudiate Baba’s rhetoric and methods, not least for the sake of the unity of Nigeria,” the report stated on May 21.

The council issued the advice after a joint press briefing in April captured the IPOB’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu and AGovC’s frontman, Dr Cho Ayaba , announcing the ‘Ambazonia-Biafra Alliance’ via Facebook.

AGovC had said it was working for a free and independent of Ambazonia (the former UN British Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons) from annexation of French Cameroun.

Meanwhile IPOB leader, Kanu, said during announcement of the alliance: “My greetings to the very resolute Ambazonian people and I want to assure that by the end of this process one outcome is inevitable; that is the liberation of our nations.”

He further claimed that Igbos are genetically related with the group.

In a tweet on May 11, Kanu said that, ‘Oduduwa, Biafra and Ambazonia bond are forged in blood. We are indivisible!’.

Meanwhile, Foreign Policy reported that the separatist groups’ agreement involved sharing of intelligence and military weapons.

The deputy defense chief of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, the military wing of the Ambazonia Governing Council, Capo Daniel, told FP that “the scope of the alliance will include joint operations and training bases; the report also stated that representatives of both the Ambazonia and IPOB movements said “the groups will work to secure their shared border and ensure an open exchange of weapons and personnel.”