The attack on Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate and current member Ninth Senate, at the 2nd Annual Igbo Cultural Festival held in Nuremberg, Germany, on Saturday, has received more condemnations from Nigerian leaders.
Among those who have condemned the attack are Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa; Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege; Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), and Frank Tietie, a lawyer and human rights activist.
In a video that has gone viral, Ekweremadu is seen being attacked by persons said to be members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in Nuremberg, Germany.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary OIisa feajika, on Sunday in Asaba, Okowa said that the incident was pathetic, shameful and an embarrassment to Nigeria.
He stated that Ekweremadu had been a great patriot and defender of his people as well as the down trodden, and did not deserve the kind of ill-treatment meted to him by IPOB members in Germany.
“I join men of goodwill in condemning the attack on Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who has been a great patriot and leader of exemplary behaviour.
“It is pathetic and shameful that an event organised to chart the way forward for the Igbo race and Nigeria in general ended up in such a disgraceful and embarrassing manner to the country.
“As Nigerians, we are trained to respect our elders and leaders as well as people in authority.
“I am particularly happy that some of the culprits have been arrested and I urge the German authorities to take necessary action on the perpetrators of the heinous act.
“I urge all Nigerians, home and abroad, to be of good behaviour wherever they find themselves as such acts of lawlessness do not bring glory to the nation,” he said.
Dabiri-Erewa condemned the attack in a statement she personally signed, stressing that it was so shameful that the event nobly put together to bring Nigerians in the Diaspora together, turned out in such a disgraceful manner.
She noted that Ekweremadu who was attending as a speaker/special guest of honor at the event organized by the Ndi-igbo Germany community was reportedly beaten up and egged publicly, which according to her is “an embarrassment to the country.”
According to reliable sources, some of the culprits who perpetrated the act have been apprehended and even as Dabiri-Erewa called on the German government and law enforcement agencies to ensure
that there are consequences for their actions.
“It is also shamefully pathetic that an event which was nobly put together by the Ndi-Igbo community in Germany whose members make up the majority of Nigerians living in Germany, to amongst other things provide a forum for the Diasporans and various stakeholders to
network and to facilitate a better cooperation between German and Nigerian businesses, ended up in such a disgraceful manner.
“We appeal to Nigerians to be of good behavior wherever they find themselves because such
incidents tarnish the image of the country,” the statement added.
In the same vein, Omo-Agege described the attack on his predecessor as not only a dastardly exportation of irrationality but an aggressive international affront against the image of Igbos and Nigeria.
In a press release issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yomi Odunuga on Sunday, Omo-Agege expressed shock over the undeserved assault and called on law enforcement agencies in Germany to investigate and bring to book all those involved in the vicious attack.
“Senator Ekweremadu honoured the invitation of patriotic Igbos in Germany who wanted him to deliver a keynote address at the event organized to commemorate the New Yam Festival but some aggressively discourteous elements hijacked the effort to perpetrate a disgraceful assault that seeks to deepen the portrayal of members of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) as enemies of democratic norms and values in which the majority must always have its way after the minority must have had its due say in all matters.
“What they did is not only a violent assault against the good image of the Igbo race across the world, but an aggressive attack against the traditional norms of a people known to be hardworking and respectful of meaningful contributions by leaders such as Senator Ekweremadu.
“Such disappointing physical abuse also grossly disregards Senator Ekweremadu’s democratic antecedents and his longstanding commitment to the cause of his people. But, as he has said out of the usual largeness of his forgiving heart , these people know not what they do.
“Such criminal attack, along with other anti-social attempt to accuse, condemn and lynch anyone remains utterly condemnable and illegal, notwithstanding whether it takes place on Nigerian or foreign soil as it is the easiest invitation to anomie,” Omo-Agege
Tietie said that the bestial attack against the person of Ekweremadu was “shockingly disappointing, most disgraceful and highly condemnable act by Escapee-Nigerians.
According to him, Nigerians living comfortably abroad must wake up from their slumber of unrealistic expectations, lamenting that, they have escaped to safe western havens while the likes of Ekweremadu have remained behind in Nigeria to proffer solutions by engaging the warped Nigerian situation.
Tietie said anybody who has contested elections in Nigeria and either won or lost would develop some respect for holders of elective positions in Nigeria. He noted that it was easy for citizens, especially the ones who have escaped abroad, to point accusing fingers at the Nigerian political class for being responsible for the myriad of Nigeria’s problems.
He said that the same citizens over the years have imbibed a culture of lawlessness, cheating, corruption, irresponsibility and lack of obligation to the Nigerian state, adding that solutions do not come about from vengeful acts done out of frustration.
“It is most irresponsible for those young people in Germany under whatever guise to have attacked Ekweremadu,” he said, describing them as being disrespectful. “heir escapist and entitlement mentality has made them to lose a sense of responsibility. They have also lost their sense of traditional Igbo patriotism. How can any Igbo group in the world ever attack an Igbo man of the quality and character of Senator Ekweremadu? What a shame! Those young people must hide their heads in shame. Big shame!
“People who run abroad and are ensconced in civilisations built by the resilience and endurance of the white man should not use anybody as a scapegoat for their frustrations. Those irresponsible Igbo young men in Germany attacked Ekweremadu just to selfishly vent their frustrations and assuage their conscience which accuses them of fleeing Nigeria when they ought to have remained to contribute in whatever way they could to alleviating the present hardships in the country. They should be ashamed!” Tietie aid.
“The frustrations of Ekweremadu’s attackers are misplaced, misguided, most irresponsible and selfish. Any Nigerian living comfortably abroad but is frustrated with the Nigerian situation should return home and join in providing solutions to the problems in the country. Senator Ekweremadu is one of the few Nigerian senators who has exhibited some measure of finesse and comportment in the conduct of legislative business. He should be commended for his towering contributions and not be vilified and hated to the point of death on account of whatever perceived mistake on his part.
“In fact, Senator Ekweremadu even appears to have promoted the Igbo cause more than any known Nigerian, in recent times. Besides his endorsement by his constituency which has returned him to the Nigerian Senate for a record number of terms, he is well respected by majority of Nigerians who follow political developments in the country,”’ he added.
He decried the fact that both Ekweremadu’s hosts and the Nigerian Mission in Germany could not offer him proper protection. He said here seemed to be an acquiescence on the part of the organisers of the event to see that Ekweremadu was humiliated and nearly killed. “That can be deduced from watching the video clips of the attack on the senator. Not too many people came to his rescue as he helplessly faced his humiliation and possible lynching,”’ Tietie said.
“The Nigerian Mission must therefore, immediately cause a thorough investigation of the attack of the senator. Like it or not, Ekweremadu is a Nigerian senator. His security should be a serious matter of state concern. We as Nigerians mustn’t fail on all fronts. We should learn to be responsible as a country. At least, let’s contain within Nigeria, our disgraceful and dysfunctional state as a people until we get out of this sociopolitical and economic quagmire,” Tietie pleaded.
