Igbo Group Attacks Soyinka Over Comments

Igboeze, a socio-political association of the Igbo people has asked Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka to tender a public apology to the Igbo people for what it termed his denigration of the people.

Prof. Soyinka had last Thursday said that the Boko Haram war was worse than the Biafra/Nigeria war in 1967-70, when a secessionist attempt by the Eastern region nearly tore the country into ethnic regions.

According to Daily Trust report, the group accused Soyinka of abusing the sensibilities of Ndigbo by his statement.

In a statement by the national leader of the group in Abuja, Chief Chekwas Okorie said Soyinka could have captured the essence of his statement on the unity of Nigeria without digressing to compare the Biafra war which lasted for 30-months and captured the attention of the whole world with the Boko Haram insurgency that is plaguing the nation.

Describing the statement as insensitive, reckless and irresponsible, the group said it is unfortunate that someone like Soyinka could open old wounds and provoke Ndigbo unnecessarily by reducing Biafra to a sole Igbo agenda that “could have torn Nigeria up into ethnic regions.