Publisher and columnist, Dr. Ugo Egbujo, has accused activist Omoyele Sowore of attempting to “milk glory” from the detention of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, rather than seeking genuine justice.
Egbujo’s comments come in response to Sowore’s recent protests calling for the government to release Kanu.
He described Sowore’s actions as a clear “political gambit,” stating, “I know a political gambit when I see one. A toad doesn’t make an afternoon dash in vain.”
The central thrust of Egbujo’s argument is that Sowore and others are ignoring the victims of violence linked to IPOB.
“Someone should tell Sowore that he might think he is under water but we can see his back clearly,” Egbujo wrote, suggesting the activist’s motives are transparent.
He directly challenged Sowore’s record, asking, “How come Sowore who said nothing all those years when Nnamdi Kanu was acting Kim Jung Un with lives of poor Igbos, now come to milk glory?” Egbujo accused Kanu of being a “supreme leader” who “doesn’t seek anybody’s counsel,” and questioned the timing of Sowore’s intervention.
For any resolution to be lasting, Egbujo insisted it must be victim-centred. He called for the government to “settle the IPOB matter politically,” but with strict conditions. “These conditions must include documenting victims and their losses… It must include apologies, repentance and restitution,” he stated.
He painted a grim picture of the human cost, noting, “Orsu Ihetekwa is still desolate. The bones of Igbo men and women cannibalised by Ipob freedom fighters still litter the village.”
Egbujo concluded that without a full accounting of the truth, any effort is hollow. He declared that “anyone discussing a solution to this matter without embracing the truth and the victims, repentance and reconciliation is an attention-seeking charlatan.” He asserted that for the Igbo people to heal, “the Igbo need to have a conversation” where “all the cards must be on the table.”
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