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Ohaneze
Ndigbo has reiterated its preparedness to defend the reparations
bill of $8.7 billion that it had presented to the Federal Government
via the Oputa Commission. At the conclusion of one of its recent
meetings, the secretary of the apex Igbo organization, Prof. Ben
Nwabueze, asserted that the demand for reparations is “legitimate
and irrevocable”. He solicited for understanding amongst potential
critics of reparations to Ndigbo and asked them to consider the
incalculable damages done to Igbos rather than focus on the sum
of money demanded. “The primary thing is to document this
ill-treatment and injustice against the Igbo race, to bring it to
the attention of Nigerians and the whole world, and the need to
redress the situation. That is the emphasis that should be laid
and not money,” he concluded.
A body
that would defend the memorandum, comprising mainly established
lawyers of Igbo extraction, was said to have been raised to prepare
their briefs preparatory to appearing before the Mr. Justice Chukwudifu
Oputa (rtd) Human Rights Violation and Investigation Panel, where
the petition had been sent.
On the petition sent to the Federal Government over the non-representation
of Ndigbo at the Federal Security Council, he said no response had
come yet. |
