A group of Nigerians living in the US has gone to meet with members of Congress to protest what they say is the federal government’s ongoing denial of a supposed Christian genocide and rampant human rights abuses happening all over Nigeria.
The groups said they acted quickly to inform US lawmakers before the Nigerian government’s own team meets with Congress, saying it was important to show what they called the “true situation on the ground,” according to Daily Independent.
Evans Nwankwo, one of the leaders of the coalition, spoke to reporters in a video and statement that our correspondent received today. He said that their goal was to make sure that the international community gets an unvarnished view of Nigeria’s security and humanitarian situation.
He stated, “We are here to meet with US lawmakers to make sure we tell them the truth about what is going on in Nigeria.”
Dr. Sylvester Onyia, head of the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), also spoke. He talked about head Bola Tinubu’s recent statement that “justice is not for sale.”
He said that the idea should drive the legal processes against Nnamdi Kanu, the arrested IPOB leader.
Onyia added, “That goes for the court that it cannot be bought with money to deliver against Nnamdi Kanu.” He also said, “We are watching, the world is watching, we are in the capital.”
Chukwuemeka Nwankwo, the Executive Director of AVID, said that the Nigerian government was behind and armed some security groups to cause violence and blame it on innocent people.
He said, “The Nigerian government paid for the creation of ‘Ebube Agwu’ and another security group just to kill our youth and blame it on innocent people.”
“And that’s how they made up this whole thing about Nnamdi Kanu just to put him in jail.” But I can tell you that we are in Washington, DC, to talk to Congress about this and the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria.
He claimed that the humanitarian situation in Nigeria has gotten so bad that it is now catastrophic, and he pointed to the problems that displaced families are having all over the country.
“They shouldn’t be making things hard for the people.” People in Nigeria are having a hard time.
“More than 10 million people are living in IDP camps, and no one is talking about it. No one is even talking about taking them back to their ancestral homes. They just care about doing the wrong thing all the time.
“So they have to change and ask for forgiveness, even though they said they were sorry terrorists.” They are the ones who need to repent, not terrorists.
As a Catholic priest and the Coordinator of Rising Sun in the US, Rev. Fr. Augustine Odimmegwa said that the journey to Capitol Hill was vital to challenge what he called a false global narrative that downplays the severity of the killings in Nigeria.
“We need to say again that there is no existential genocide going on in Nigeria.”
“That massacre brought a lot of other things to light, including the matter of Nnamdi Kanu, who was the whistleblower who told our people that genocide was coming.
“Today, he is still being kept in solidarity confinement, even though the United Nations, the Kenya Court, the Appeal Court in Nigeria, and several other courts have ruled in his favor.
“We told the politicians very clearly that this is not okay. Nigeria is a democratic country. The United States is the light of democracy. So we gave it to them so they could hold the Nigerian government responsible.
“They can’t keep pretending that they are running a democracy and doing unfair things, especially to an innocent man like Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
Ben Nwankwo, the Executive Director of Ambassador for Self-Determination, US, also spoke. He emphasized that President Tinubu’s cry for justice should include millions of Christians who are suffering and displaced, as well as Kanu.
“I’m delighted that Nigeria’s president, Tinubu, talked about justice and made it clear that justice is not for sale. And I want to say well done. I want him to do right by the people who are down and out in our country.
“I want him to do right by the 45 million Christians who are in IDP camps, also known as concentration camps, where the kids are left out in the open, without shelter, and are easy targets.”
He also said that the meetings with Congress were useful.
“We are here to speak up for the US Congress, and I’m glad they are listening and asking good questions.”
On the Kanu issue, he told the federal government to show that they are fair according to democratic standards.
If you want justice in the matter of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Tinubu, it must be dealt with. They have turned against and put an innocent individual on trial. You can’t get justice from wrong or legality from wrong.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was taken hostage. You are in the place of judgment, judging your own victim. What a shame. You held him in jail for seven years for God’s sake.
“So if you talk about justice, we want to see you do justice for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.” Let him go home and let him go. That’s fair.
He said, “You shouldn’t talk about justice if you can’t do that.”
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