More prominent Nigerians have continued to condemn the assault on former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on Saturday in Nuremberg, Germany.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, in a press statement issued on Sunday in Abuja and signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi described the assault “as part of the sacrifice of leadership.”
Senator Ekweremadu was to give a keynote address at the Second Igbo Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organised by Ndi-Igbo Germany in that city when he was attacked at the venue.
Members of the outlawed group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), have since claimed responsibility for the attack on Senator Ekweremadu.
But the President of the Senate in his statement said the former Deputy Senate President did not deserve the assault as Senator Lawan noted that Senator Ekweremadu was an illustrious son of Ndigbo who in his political career has consistently identified with and defended the cause of his people.
“It is incredibly absurd for anybody to blame the distinguished Senator for the violent criminal activities in his home base, the purported reason cited by the mob for the bewildering attack.
“Senator Ekweremadu, like all his distinguished colleagues in the Ninth Assembly of the Senate, is concerned about the insecurity and other challenges in that area and other parts of Nigeria. Senator Ekweremadu has also been at the forefront of the patriotic efforts to find lasting solutions to the challenges.
“The barbaric attack on Senator Ekweremadu at a forum to which he was invited to contribute to charting a course for the progress and happiness of Ndigbo debase our values as civilised people. It is most reprehensible and should be condemned by all right-thinking Nigerians.”
He urged the German authorities to identify those involved in what he called the despicable act so that the law could take its course against them.
The President of the Senate “urges Nigerians to always reflect deeply and broadly before embarking on a course of action and advises the youth to ventilate whatever grievances they have along lines prescribed by the law and recommended by reason and democratic ethos,” while appealing to “Senator Ekweremadu not to be deterred by the incident from his path of service to his people and Nigerians in general, but to take it as part of the sacrifice of leadership.”
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that the attack on the party chieftain was uncalled for, unprovoked and cannot be justified under any guise whatsoever.
It added that such assault on a leader was completely unacceptable and does not portray our nation in the proper light.
The PDP, therefore, charged the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany as well as the German government to take appropriate decisive action on the matter.
The party also urged the Federal Government, particularly, the National Assembly, to take an urgent comprehensive step to address issues leading to acts of resentment and agitations by Nigerians within and outside the country in the last four years, under President Muhammadu Buhari’s “misrule.”
While also condemning the attack, former Abia State Governor and Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Dr. Orji Kalu described the action of the mob as uncivilised, unacceptable and barbaric, the former governor urged Ndigbo to respect leaders at all levels insisting that the only way the South East region can be prosperous was by embracing dialogue, peace and unity.
