THE five- day standing committee of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, ended abruptly in Awka Wednesday following the sit-at-home threat by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
The meeting, attended by 170 Bishops from all the Dioceses in the country, was the highest decision-making gathering of the church and would have ended on Friday.

According to the IPOB threat, all markets, banks and other institutions would be shut and movement restricted in the entire South East geo-political zone.

There were visible signs Wedenesday in the state of security beef up in various parts of the state.

Primate of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Reverend Nicolas Okoh, who expressed concern over the IPOB order, had earlier pleaded with the group to allow the Bishops leave the state, arguing that the order would adversely affect their departure if carried out.

He said: “IPOB threatened to shut down markets and other institutions and restrict movement in the entire South East. We are not delving into the reasons for their agitation, but we are asking them to wait until we leave Awka on Friday.

“ If they go ahead to carry out that order, we may be trapped in Anambra as the Niger Bridge is the only exit route from Anambra State for most of the Bishops. So, people should help us beg them to allow us to go.”

Though Wednesday was the official opening day for the meeting, the Bishops decided to leave the state immediately so as not to be caught in the web of IPOB planned Friday programme.

One of the Bishops from the Northern part of the country said “We are human and so we had to put our heads together and that is why we decided to cut short the conference.

“That is the most ideal thing to do in the circumstance. I will leave this evening and most others will do same. Those who cannot make it today (yesterday) will do so early tomorrow. There is no need waiting; it doesn’t make sense.”

Following the decision, the Bishops hurriedly issued a statement appealing to the Niger Delta militants to stop the bombing of oil facilities in their region in the interest of the country.

They also appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a roundtable meeting between government and the agitators in order to address their grievances.

They, however, reminded the militants that shutting down the economy of the country would not do anybody any good.

Delivering his address at the meeting earlier, the Primate appealed to the federal government to disarm the Fulani herdsmen who, he noted, had murdered the peace of the country.

His address read in part: “The Standing Committee wishes to make a passionate appeal to the militants to spare our economy and stop the bombing of oil facilities.

“Shutting down the economy is like pulling down the roofs with all of us inside; nobody will escape the negative impact. We equally call on those who can reach them to join in this appeal for the greater good of all.

“The presence of herdsmen in our countryside is not new, they have always been around. What is, however, new are the unprovoked attacks on their host communities and sometimes saying that cow is missing.

“They lay ambush and waylay people going to their farms, rape women and destroy farmlands; and their victims are at their mercy because they are armed.

“We call on the federal government to immediately disarm these people to return Nigeria to a state of peace.”

“Our roads are in bad condition all across the country. Since our major means of transport is road, we call on the federal government to give the required attention to the roads to reduce the inconveniences, accidents and deaths.

“Airlines operating in the country are going through difficult times, some have grounded operations. No doubt, we need them.

“We therefore call on the federal government to expedite action on floating the national carrier or rejuvenate the private ones to enable them perform better.


“Further in this area is the persistent scarcity of aviation fuel which has troubled the country, disrupted many programmes, including those of government and private.

“We call on government to solve the problem of aviation fuel permanently so that people can move about their businesses with less difficulty within the country.”

Okoh commended Governor Willie Obiano for promoting religious harmony in the state, as well as prompt payment of workers’ salaries at a time many states were unable to do so.

He also congratulated the governor and the people of the state on the 25th anniversary of the creation of the state, assuring that the bond between the church and the state government would continue to grow stronger.

“I thank the governor because he always identifies with us. The religious climate in Anambra is now tension -free. He does not discriminate in his appointments and we are grateful to him.

“We heard that he is one of the few governors that pay salaries and we say, please don’t relent because the church depends on the generosity of the members for the execution of its projects”, the Primate further said.

Bari22:
Let us see what will happen on this friday, i hope soldiers will be given shoot at sight order.

SamuelAnyawu:
90% of Igbos in the villages are loyal to Catholic and Anglican church than the IPOB....

IPOB be careful not to incur the wrath of these worshippers oooooooooooh

Ask Ohakim how market?

LoveMachine:
I keep telling people IPOB is bad news. This is tyranny at its infancy stage. If allowed to grow we will have a taliban type group on our hands. I don't like it one bit.

LoveMachine:
I keep telling people IPOB is bad news. This is tyranny at its infancy stage. If allowed to grow we will have a taliban type group on our hands. I don't like it one bit.

SamuelAnyawu:
90% of Igbos in the villages are loyal to Catholic and Anglican church than the IPOB....


IPOB be careful not to incur the wrath of these worshippers oooooooooooh


Ask Ohakim how market?

onespecial:





I am a catholic. Come close to me and they say ur death will bring Biafra, my guy u will be dead already.



People and cities were destroyed to restore Israel at different times if u believe ur Bible.

Brooklynsouth:
your business,your headache you think about it you go mental and if you try to stop it you die simple .who cares if you. Like it ....pls go to igweocha,aba, onitcha and akwaibom and say this come back aand tell what you experienced that's if u ll make it

onespecial:






Pls they are not ur muslim folks from west or north. These are intelligent and reasonable poeple. Did u see the crowd that protested in Abia,Anambra and co ? Does that see, like sthing growng or intent of Biafran population ?


Keep shying away from the truth and continue to regard us as just a group against u. We don't want togetherness with u anymore shouldn't be hard for u to grab. We are not same, we are different in many areas, we've been managing ourselves to see if we are compactible but no, we are not.


Stay on ur own simple. We are not asking for ur blood or head, just stay on ur own.


That is a foolish reasoning to think that poeple who demand you become independent of anybody are becoming something else. Is ur tribe still a baby that must be breast fed ?

LoveMachine:


What are you saying? I see you typed a message but it's not very well conveyed.



Maaaaan I'm Igbo! Stop it already! This blind groupthink is the very thing that worries me. I voice a different view and now I'm no longer Igbo? People are harassing traders and restricting movement for one man? Priests are being molested? The very freedoms we claim to practice are being thrown to the dogs for one man? That's never been the way we rock. Not then. Not now. Not ever. If this is how Biafra will be run I'm not too optimistic.

SamuelAnyawu:


Lol. That's why I don't bother commenting on such threads

LoveMachine:





Maaaaan I'm Igbo! Stop it already! This blind groupthink is the very thing that worries me. I voice a different view and now I'm no longer Igbo? People are harassing traders and restricting movement for one man? Priests are being molested? The very freedoms we claim to practice are being thrown to the dogs for one man? That's never been the way we rock. Not then. Not now. Not ever. If this is how Biafra will be run I'm not too optimistic.

onespecial:




Because of which one man? That same man that is ur nightmare is in that situation because of our target and i sure know u are from the tribe that prefer killings and destruction of lives and properties like herdsmen do to peaceful and harmless demonstrations by Biafrans.



Yes, to u descendants of fallen angel, sent down with all his evils in a calabash, killings and destructions of lives and properties are civil and ideal way to express one's grievances while demonstrations are already demonic to u just because of ur selfish interests.




What i have faith in is, the struggle can never be wiped away from the minds of Biafrans just with mere use of force. One day the momentum will succeed.

LoveMachine:


What are you talking about? I! AM! IGBO! How is alright to arbitrarily shut down an entire region? How will people earn? Will you feed their children? If people want to join that's fine. But to force them? You are becoming the very thing you hate and you can't see it. We are better than this but we as a group have been blinded by lies, hard times and mistreatment.

I'm not your enemy. Get your mind right.

LoveMachine:


What are you saying? I see you typed a message but it's not very well conveyed.



Maaaaan I'm Igbo! Stop it already! This blind groupthink is the very thing that worries me. I voice a different view and now I'm no longer Igbo? People are harassing traders and restricting movement for one man? Priests are being molested? The very freedoms we claim to practice are being thrown to the dogs for one man? That's never been the way we rock. Not then. Not now. Not ever. If this is how Biafra will be run I'm not too optimistic.

Do you miss Northampton 1-3 Man United games?

Watch and download the match goals highlight here


www.footysport.com/watch-download-northampton-town-1-3-manc.xhtml

Footysport:
My dear IPOB group. I will like to ask you to stop all this dream of separating from Nigeria.

Your dream would have seen day light if you are not in a Country like Nigeria and most especially AFRICA

I pray we don't see the news of Killings on top this matter again

_________________________________

unclejb2:
let's see if Buhari will come to our homes and drag us out and kill us. Our freedom is not negotiable

noblezone:


It is only a silly Igbo man that need to be harassed before he shuts down his business for this protest.


If I have my way, I will go round markets with canes and flog some common sense into the empty heads of us little minds.

It is far better than shooting people while they are sleeping and burning there houses.

j am participating willingly and it has nothing to do with Nnamdi Kanu
. He is only a symbol of the struggle. He is a dot in the ocean.

Cursed be the white witches that invaded our lands in the name of colonialism.