Representative of Abia North, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has insisted that over 30,000 Igbo people have been killed in the South-East as a result of sit-at-home orders and violent disruptions linked to IPOB and ESN activities.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News,
Kalu dismissed claims by IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful that he fabricated the death toll and was himself a sponsor of violent separatist groups.
Kalu described the reaction as “childish,” insisting that his comments were factual and based on the human and economic losses suffered across the region.
“My statement was very clear on what I said. I said there are over 30,000 Igbos that have lost their life in the process of sit-at-home, do this, do that in the South-East. Businesses were stopped. People in Ihiala and along those areas, and people in Orlu and part of all the South-East cannot go to their homes.”
He faulted Emma Powerful for issuing statements anonymously and urged him to appear openly if he wished to challenge the figures.
“If Emma Powerful is issuing a statement, he should come on television the way I have come to address you — that is Emma Powerful with clear identity of who he is. Igbos should not be taken for a ride or for granted.”
Kalu expressed sympathy for the detained IPOB leader’s family but stressed that the suffering of ordinary people must also be acknowledged.
“I sympathise truly with the family of Nnamdi Kanu and what has happened to them. And I want the Federal Government and everybody to think of how they can resolve the matter.
“They should think of what happened to people that lost their businesses, people that lost their lives, families that have been killed. It is a statement of fact — I don’t talk any harm,”he concluded.
Boluwatife Enome
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