Posted by From Charles Onyekamuo in Akwa on
Leader of the defunct Biafran Republic, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu has expressed doubts that the arsonists who razed the Inosi-Onira home of the Late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe last Monday were Igbos maintaining that no Igbo would carry out such a dastardly act against the late sage.
Leader of the defunct Biafran Republic, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu has expressed doubts that the arsonists who razed the Inosi-Onira home of the Late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe last Monday were Igbos maintaining that no Igbo would carry out such a dastardly act against the late sage.
Speaking at the weekend when he visited the Inosi-Onira home of the Azikiwes, which was razed during a clash between members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the police, Ojukwu said even if the perpetrators were Igbo, they would not go unpunished.
The Ikemba, who arrived the expansive Inosi-Onira compound of the Azikiwes in the company of former Information Minister, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, and a retinue of aides and associates at about 1:30 pm was received by Zik's first son, Chief Chukwuma Azikiwe, the Owelle of Onitsha.
He expressed regrets on sighting the remnants of what used to be magnificent buildings in the compound and the carcasses of vehicles burnt in the course of the clash and declared: 'I don't believe Igbos did this; but if it is eventually found out that the perpetrators of this dastardly act are Igbos, they will not go unpunished". Chukwuma later guided him on an inspection of the extent of destruction inflicted on the buildings inside the compound.
Thereafter, Ojukwu went straight to the mausoleum where the remains of the late sage were interred in 1996, and looking skywards prayed to God not to forsake the Igbos but to cuddle them as his children, forgive them their sins and ensure that the kind of mayhem visited on the compound of the late Zik does not repeat itself.
'We stand with a brother (Zik) after your heart and ask, why did you leave us in this condition. We plead with you to forgive us. We are your children. We don't understand please teach us.
'I pray that this kind of thing will not happen again. Help us to love ourselves so that this kind of thing doesn't happen again, and that henceforth, the Igbos will continue to do good things, and that all the Igbos no matter how difficult it might seem must follow the footsteps of Zik", he prayed at Zik's graveside.
Nwodo, on his part, described the arson as an unjustifiable aggression and a disgrace to Igbo values and culture.
He prayed God to forgive those who perpetrated the act.
Senator Joy Emodi (Anambra North), a native of Onitsha who also came to sympathize with the Azikiwes over the arson said it was an abomination of the highest order done to a great nationalist. She expressed the sympathy of the entire Senate over the incident, and said that the Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani who was away in Korea also sent his sympathy and will visit personally upon his return. She urged both the Federal and the Anambra Sate governments to work to fish out the perpetrators of the arson and bring them to justice. She however, prayed to God to forgive the perpetrators, who she described as 'rascals" because they didn't know what they did.
Zik's eldest son, Chukwuma, said Nigeria will only succeed in a situation of mutual respect, tolerance and brotherliness.
'It will be good for Igbos, good for Nigeria and the entire black race", he prayed and thanked God that none of those injured in the compound during the police/MASSOB clash died. 'None died", he said; adding it was an evidence that God recognized and welcomed his father's life of compromise, accommodation, love, and life without bitterness.
He also praised Senator Emodi for being a humble and worthy ambassador of Onitsha kingdom and for rendering service to the people of Anambra North Senatorial district since she became a Senator.