TMG cautions OPC, MASSOB on protests

Gani Adams

The Transition Monitoring Group on Wednesday cautioned the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and the Odua Peoples Congress over their recent protests in the country.

The TMG, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Ibrahim   Zikirullahi, expressed concerns that the two ethnic militias were disrupting peace and inciting violence in the process of airing their grievances on national issues.

The group also slammed security agencies such as the police for not taking action against unrest, saying security agencies connived with the protesters.

It maintained that although the TMG was not opposed to protest as a tool for drawing attention to issues, the manner in which the OPC and MASSOB have conducted themselves so far “was anti-democracy.”

The TMG said, “If the intemperate and disruptive manner these unlawful and proscribed ethnic champions have gone about their sponsored protests is anything to go by, it is apparent that some interests will not rest until they turn the whole electoral architecture into rubbles.

“With this level of unbelievable desperation, there is no doubt that there are some elements in the political terrain that are mortally afraid of the reforms, such as the   card reader, that have been instituted by INEC to guarantee a freer and fairer electoral process in Nigeria.

“It is these unpatriotic groups that are now being used to attempt to discredit INEC and the entire electoral process. It is bewildering that some Nigerians, who should be interested in the stability and well-being of their country, are actively conniving with power mongers in the government to undermine the electoral system.

“We are not under any illusion that these ethnic militias, which used to be on the fringes, are acting on their own. It is clear to us that these patently subversive activities aimed at truncating the electoral process are well funded.”