Terrorism: Between Al Qaeda, IPOB And Obidients Movements -By Richard Odusanya

They’re ‘weaponizing’ our youths. Obidients ‘Nattering nitwits’ described as “Headless mob” and further validated by Prof Wole Soyinka (WS). The movement is considered similar in attributes and antecedents of Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB and the dreaded Al Qaeda movement of Bin laden – confused and brainwashed religionists misrepresenting God. These people are truly headless, what an empty set of cretinous individuals – the coinage Obingos was subsequently offered as a result of the incongruences of the group that was pushing for change through unorthodox means.

My contribution today will focus on comparing Al Qaeda, Ipob and the Obidients. I argue that Ipob, Obidients, Al Qaeda and its affiliates remain a threat to the civilized world. Patriotic citizens, intelligence and Diplomatic communities, must of necessity be on high alert and keep an eye on the subject of terrorists camouflaging as political action groups. What is more, Bin laden with Al Qaeda movement shocked the entire world to its foundation with the September 11 highjacked aeroplane and the resultant effects of the most ugliest and deadliest operations.

Al-Qaeda, Arabic al-Qāʿidah (“the Base”), broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countries, including the 1998 United States embassy bombings, the 2001 September 11 attacks, and the 2002 Bali bombings; it has been designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty.

Similarly, is the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a violent separatist group in Nigeria that aims to revisit the idea of Biafra, an idea of separatism. Since 2021, IPOB and other Biafran separatist groups have been fighting a low-level guerilla conflict in southeastern Nigeria against the Nigerian government. Subsequently, highjacked a somewhat peaceful protest coded #EndSars turned violent and destructive. The group was founded in 2012 by Nnamdi Kanu and Uche Mefor.

Kanu is known to be a British/Nigerian political activist known for his advocacy of the contemporary Biafran independence movement. It was deemed a terrorist organization by the Nigerian government in 2017 under the Nigerian Terrorism Act. As of May 2022, the United Kingdom started denying asylum to members of IPOB who engaged in human rights abuses, though the U.K. government clarified that IPOB had not been designated as a terrorist organisation.

As evidenced in the recent activities of the Obidients movement across the nation. It is instructive that we begin to x-ray the intentions of the movement vis-a-vis the motives and sponsors. The movement started the same way the Ipob and Al Qaeda movements were designed: arrogant and garrulous, the kind of trash that sits well with their tiny mental capacity and hatred leading to unwarranted divisiveness, spreading falsehood, deceitfulness, incendiary comments including brainwashing of unsuspecting gullible followers excited about personalities destruction.

Warmongering, cyber-bullying, criminal misadventures including highjacking of aeroplane, calling for military take-over or interim government through proxies, unmindful of the unconstitutionality and treasonous consequences. The Obidients have apparently harassed TIME reporter who wrote the Bola Tinubu’s TIME100 profile into locking her Twitter account. This is totally unacceptable behavior from the so-called movement Obidients described as “Headless mob”.

It is instructive to note, that, the Obidients went overboard again, on prestigious nomination of Nigeria’s President-elect, Bola Tinubu, President of the United States, Joe Biden, King Charles III and Ghanaian-born, Nigerian-based sculptor, El Anatsui, haven been named among Time’s most influential personalities in 2023. Tinubu, who won Nigeria’s presidential election held in February 25, was placed in the “leader” category alongside the United States President, Joe Biden, and the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in the list released on Thursday.

It is against this backdrop that, this contribution will be advocating for a more stringent measures of checkmating the criminal tendencies typically characterised by act of lawlessness, bullying, hatred leading to unwarranted divisiveness, spreading falsehood and deceitfulness as exemplified by Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed and his principal Peter Gregory Obi. Unsurprisingly, the UK government through its immigration officials questioned and briefly detained Peter Obi, one of the promoters Obidients movement in the recent past days.

Finally, permit me to conclude this contribution that focuses on terrorism by stating that Nigeria will be unable to attain its full potential with the kind of activities of some disgruntled elements. Therefore, the need to be circumspect.

Richard Odusanya
odusanyagold@gmail.com