President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday spoke as an army commander, painting a picture of the Indigenous People of Biafra as a river having nowhere to flow to, or an army encircled entirely by the enemy.
He described the group clamouring for the Republic of Biafra as a dot in a circle having nowhere to go.
Buhari spoke in an interview with TV broadcast on Thursday. The team of interviewers was led by the Chairman, Nduka Obaigbena.
“That IPOB is just like a dot in a circle. Even if they want to exit, they will have no access to anywhere.
“And the way they are spread all over the country, having businesses and properties, I don’t think IPOB knows what they are talking about.
Buhari’s statement on IPOB last week led to the war between the country and the micro-blogging platform, Twitter, which deleted the President’s civil war comment on the Southeast agitators.
He however reiterated his statement that IPOB members will be treated in the “language that they understand”.
“In any case, we say we’ll talk to them in the language that they understand. We’ll organise the police and the military to pursue them.”
President Buhari also hinged his statement on a fact that has fundamentally altered the realities on the current clamour for secession.
He said he had been assured by “the elderly people” and “the youths” from the South-South part of the country that their region has no intention of seceding.
Therefore, while the present region called South-South was a part of the Biafra of 1967 war, the map has been redrawn, leaving the South East entirely encircled by those who are opposed to secession.
With this, Buhari declared that IPOB will not have “access to anywhere” even if they eventually secede from the country.
“I was encouraged by what I heard, nobody told me. Two statements from the south-south. One by the elderly people, they said this time around there would be no (secession). And again the youth made the same statement; such encouragement,” Buhari said.
The President who spoke on sundry matters affecting the nation, also said he had given the military and Police marching orders to be ruthless on bandits and terrorists troubling the nation.
He also talked about when the ban imposed on Twitter last week will be lifted, as well as why he appointed Major-General Farouk Yahaya as the Chief of Army Staff, over some of his seniors.
Asked about the time when the ban on Twitter would be lifted, the President refused to disclose that.
“I will keep that to myself,” he answered.
Minister of Information and Culture on Wednesday announced that Twitter had reached out to the government, requesting for high-level discussions on how the two parties can resolve the crisis.
Mohammed said that one of the conditions that must prevail for Twitter to return to Nigeria is for it to be registered in Nigeria as a business and pay tax to the government. This condition, he said, would also apply to other social media platforms, including Facebook.
Speaking on the implications of the rising level of insecurity in the country, Buhari said he had ordered to military and Police to order to be ruthless with bandits and vandals terrorists across the country.
According to him, he told the military and the Police to treat bandits in the northern part of the country in “the language they understand”.
“Because we told them if we keep people away from their farms, we are going to starve. And the government can’t control the public,” he said.
“If you allow hunger, the government is going to be in trouble and we don’t want to be in trouble. We are already in enough trouble. So we warn them. Sooner than later you’ll see the difference,” he promised.
On General Yahaya’s appointment as the COAS above his seniors, the President explained that he based his selection experience. He chose Yahaya because of his experience in fighting Boko Haram in the Northeast.
Until his appointment, Yahaya was the Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, the counter-insurgency operation in the North-east.
Operation Hadin Kai was previously known as Operation Lafiya Dole, and one of its earlier commanders was General Lucky Irabor, the current Chief of Defence Staff.