Soyinka queries FG’s proscription of IPOB, leaving out Miyetti Allah

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has questioned the decision of the Federal Government to ban the Indigenous People of Biafra, leaving out Miyetti Allah to operate.

He spoke against this action of the FG in an interview on Monday on a Channels Television programme, NewsNight.

Soyinka wondered, “Why are you proscribing IPOB without proscribing Miyetti Allah?”

He said Miyetti Allah had displayed more dangerous tendencies than IPOB including hate speech infuriating and inciting people to attack others.

He said, “My temperament does not accept that anyone should chase me out of my God-given earth. So, it’s a temperamental thing as well. The idea that you can unleash terror on me because you want my little patch of territory or you want my soul; that is, you want to subjugate me; you want to turn me into a slave; well, I would sort that out first. And then I’ll make up my mind whether I want to leave. So each outrage, unfortunately, has the opposite effect.

“Whether the outrage is taking place in Benue, Kaduna or Owo; or right here on the (Ogun State) border, we’ve been subjected also to this lunacy of the subjugation mentality, which some minority people hold. And I find it very difficult to accept to be chased out of my own entitled portion of the earth.

“Many people just either do not know history or do not understand the purpose of history.

“And then there’s a different group also who are very selective about history. They know how to distort or misuse history. Take for instance, when the incursion of the Fulani herdsmen began and the Miyetti Allah (through) their spokesman said, I think it was in Borno, ‘we once ruled this place and we can take back our land anytime we want’. I remember that statement. I’ve never forgotten.

“In the midst of the trauma of these people, somebody comes gloating and then citing selective portions of history. I said this person should be arrested and locked up. Who says he wants to repeat his history of conquest? He’s admitting either knowledge, before or after, or support, anyway. Isn’t there anything like hate speech anymore?”