Civil War: Why Nigerian Army wasn’t hard on Biafrans – Buhari

Written by Johnbosco Agbakwuru
~Vanguard Nigeria. Monday, June 4, 2018.

ABUJA – PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Monday gave reasons why the Nigerian Army was not hard on the separatist agitation of Biafrans during the 30 months civil war.

President Buhari explained that they had strict and formal instructions to exercise restraint against Biafrans during the three-year civil war which took place between1967-1970.

The President recalled that every military commander was issued the instructions in dispatches handed to them from the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, that the Biafrans, were not enemies but brothers and sisters of the rest of Nigerians.

President Buhari stated this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja during his investiture as Grand Patron of the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS).

The President who promised to assist the organisation secure permanent office accommodation in Abuja, showered praises on the former Head of State, Gen. Gowon, retd, for that gesture and also the role of the Red Cross in bringing succour to victims of the war even in dangerous circumstances.


He went memory lane over the horrible consequence of the civil war, noting that the pathetic pictures of war-ravaged Biafrans were always heartrending.

According to him, “Earlier in my profession, during the civil war, I know how much sacrifice members of the Nigerian Red Cross and their international counterparts did both in the real front of operations and at the rear, on both sides. I think it is a lot of sacrifices because anything can happen to you in the operational areas.

“The risks they faced were real and I admire their courage and commitment to helping people who were in distress and were virtually in millions. Those photographs of people from the Biafra enclave spoke a lot.

“I remember with nostalgia the performance of the Commander-in-Chief, General Gowon. Every commander was given a copy of the Commander-in-Chief’s instructions that we were not fighting enemies but that we were fighting our brothers. And thus, people were constrained to show a lot of restraint.

“The international observer teams were allowed to go as far as possible within and outside the front and I think this was generous and very considerate of General Gowon. He is a highly committed Nigerian.”

On his promise to assist the organisation secure permanent office accommodation in Abuja, Buhari said, "I have taken note of your logistics especially your(request for) office here.

"I assure you that the government will do its best when you decide to build such facilities in terms of securing an area here within the Federal Capital Territory and we hope you will not do the Nigerian ways of doing things.


"To use the words of famous Nigerian Minister `I hope you will not build an elephantine headquarters' which is going to be functional because we have seen your activities throughout the country," he said.

In his remarks, the head of delegation and National President of the NRCS, Chief Bolaji Anani, said the organization has over 800,000 trained volunteers based in communities across the 774 local government areas of the federation.


Anani pleaded with the President to assent to the Bill amending the Red Cross Act of 1960, whenever the National Assembly, which was currently debating on it, eventually passes it, noting that the Act has not been reviewed since it was passe in 1960.

OBASANJO'S BBC HARDTALK: WHY IGBOS ARE ANGRY WITH NIGERIA: Response

The Republican News
www.twitter.com/RNNetwork1

My friends who are not from the East of Nigeria where Igbos come from often ask me why there is so much anger in the East and among Igbos. Some wonder why, despite the famed Igbo” wealth’ and enterprise all over Nigeria, the people still complain that Nigeria is unfair to them. Some insinuate that the anger comes from the loss of the 2015 election by Jonathan who the Igbos heavily backed.

And why is it that the current generation of Igbos are so angry as to contemplate carrying arms against the country? With lots following Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB with his secessionist message. Those not following Kanu may despise his antics and rhetoric but are sympathetic to his underlying message. And what is that message? That Igbos don’t feel wanted in Nigeria. That decades of official marginalization and discrimination should be stopped or they should be allowed to take their chances in a new nation.

First, for those who think this is all about Jonathan and Buhari. It is not. Igbos were disappointed that Jonathan did not win. But those whose candidates lose elections lick their wounds. It is allowed. It happens when your candidate loses election. Why did the Igbos invest so much emotions in Jonathan, a non-Igbo from Ijaw? It was more because of the fear of their experience in the past 50 years. Nigeria has placed an embargo on any Igbo man becoming Nigerian president and Igbos understand this.

Jonathan was the next best thing. Other parts of Nigeria have supported their sons to the presidency. Some have bombed Nigeria into submission to get their sons to Aso Rock. Igbos have little capacity to blackmail Nigeria to the presidency. They chose Jonathan as their “Igbo”. But that’s not to say that they are angry enough because he lost to contemplate going to war on his behalf. Jonathan was not really the model of a President the Igbo would go to war for. And even his Ijaw people have accepted his loss. So?

Igbo anger has been building up in Nigeria since the 70s. As kids, people made choices in other parts of Nigeria school years based on the narrative of the Igbo place in Nigeria. They knew about the glass ceiling against Igbos.

After the civil war, despite the “No winner, no vanquished” program, Nigeria placed glass ceilings and no-go areas for Igbos. The war reconstruction program was observed more in the breach. There was the “abandoned” property program that was introduced to drive a wedge between components of the former South-East Nigeria. While the country was too embarrassed to put the discrimination program down in an official gazette, it was there for anyone who cared to look. It was evident in the Igbo police officer who stayed in one position while less qualifies juniors progressed to become his bosses. It was evident when no Igbo qualified to become the Inspector General of Police, or lead any division in the armed forces. It was there when "sensitive" or "lucrative" positions were shared in Nigeria and Igbos were conspicuously absent.

It was there when Igbos were only fit enough to be made Minister of Information until Obasanjo administration came to power. And even recently, it was there when Buhari appointed 47 people to man the critical roles in his government and no one from the South east was there.

Nnamdi Kanu and The Cry For Biafra: ‘Nnamdi Kanu most frightening product of our…’

Topics:

• Nnamdi Kanu and the Biafran zoo
• ‘Nnamdi Kanu most frightening product of our…’
• Biafra restoration priority to all and sundry – Nnamdi Kanu
• Court strikes out six charges against IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu
• Kanu, IPOB supporters are fraudsters, says Ralph Uwazuruike, leader and founder of MASSOB
• I'm waiting for Ralph Uwazuruike to disguise himself with mask to testify against me in court today, Nnamdi Kanu Thundered. MUST WATCH
• Kanu: IPOB members protest in Japan, Cote d'Ivoire
• THE ARREST AND DETENTION OF NNAMDI KANU
• Pro-Biafra agitators are miscreants – Obasanjo
• Obasanjo, ‘kettle calling pot black’, says Achuzia
• Nnamdi Kanu, the Biafra course and Vision 2023!
• Nnamdi Kanu has no criminal charge hanging on his neck – lawyer
• Obasanjo warns Nigerians of second Biafra war
• Biafra: FG charges Kanu, 2 others with treasonable felony
• Biafra Agitation Is Dead, Hopeless, Says Obasanjo

_____________________________________

Nnamdi Kanu and the Biafran zoo
~TheGuardian Nigeria. Wednesday, January 17, 2018.

Politics in Nigeria is largely transactional. Nigerians who want to hold political positions look for and invest millions of naira in purchasing the endorsements of godfathers and distributing rice, bread, and cash to fellow citizens to vote for them.

Nnamdi Kanu

The process is extremely expensive and attracts mostly those who see politics as a very good way of dramatically multiplying investments, much like drug smuggling.

Nigerian politics rarely attracts people who have the intention to use political control of state institutions to transform the lives of fellow citizens. Building a base of political power in Nigeria is similar to establishing 100 per cent ownership of a bank.

You acquire control of a political office and convert all levels and institution of government that fall under the control of this office into something like bank branches.

You select all the "managers" of the institutions and agencies - local governments, tax authorities, ministries, broadcasting services, state-owned enterprises, land management bureaux etc. - who deliver a chunk of their budgets to you in addition to using their resources and responsibilities to generate funds and opportunities for you.

The objective of generating funds for the political machinery of the "political lord" becomes the significant if not primary aim and consistently erodes their statutory roles (delivering quality education or healthcare services or durable roads).

First, this intensely anti-democratic process concentrates power permanently in the hands of a very few people. Anyone seeking to enter Nigerian politics must be ready to divert public resources to these political godfathers.

It also weakens the ability of state institutions to deliver services that are essential to fostering investment, creating wealth and lifting people out of poverty - durable infrastructure, high quality public school and health system, etc.

The process locks out Nigerian youths and professionals from politics. In the first 20 years of independence, people between 28 and 40 years of age were governors, federal legislators and ministers, and even President. Now, a 50 year old is considered a very young person in Nigerian politics.

Who lifted the veil on Biafra?

~The SUN Nigeria. Thursday, June 1, 2017.

A major thematic concern of Chinua Achebe's last literary work, "There Was a Country", is the official ring of secrecy, which was run around the subject matter of Biafra by successive Nigerian governments. Achebe's concern here is that Nigeria as a country is living in denial. A country called Biafra existed. A war of attrition was fought over it. While the war lasted, the world quaked. The big powers were involved. British armoured tanks and Russian planes were freely deployed. The Arab League joined in the war. They were all on the side of the federal aggressors. In the face of mounting humanitarian crisis, the World Council of Churches, the Caritas and the Red Cross came in to save lives. They provided Biafra with food aids. At the end of the fratricidal strife, some three million lives were lost. The war was the inevitable consequence of a state-sponsored pogrom directed at the Igbo people in 1966. After 30 gruelling months, the Biafran resistance caved in. The new republic was crippled by huge odds. It collapsed.

This momentous event did not escape the attention of writers. They penned their experiences and concerns in various genres. Strangely, however, the Nigerian state did not want to commit the events of the war to history. It shut it out both from current affairs and historical studies. The country conveniently ignored the subject by refusing to talk about it. It treated the matter as if it never took place. It censored any form of discussion, bordering on Biafra. It decreed that the subject must never be discussed officially. History was not allowed to incorporate it. It must never be taught in schools so that those who were not old enough to witness the events of that period will never get to know about it. The result was that the lessons that ought to have been learned from the historical upheaval were, regrettably, lost.

But the ploy of keeping the matter secret did not work. Regardless of the fact that our schools are barred from broaching the subject matter of Biafra in their curricula, the issue has remained an open enterprise. Younger Nigerians whose mothers were not yet married when the cataclysm took place know that there was a country called Biafra. They do not just know that, post-Civil War men and women from the defunct republic are very much aware of what transpired between 1966 and 1970. They are very conscious of the events of those years. They know about the republic in which their people found solace. 


They romanticise it. They yearn for it. They are not interested in the odds. They do not even imagine any hang-up. They want the dream republic because they believe that it would guarantee their generation and future generations of Igbo the space and freedom they need to actualise their potentials. They feel claustrophobic in the Nigerian environment. They are aware of the fact that Nigeria discriminates against them on the basis of their place of origin. They have borne the degradation for too long. Their patience has run out. That is why they are insisting on Biafra. What all this tells us is that in spite of the restrictions imposed on the subject matter, the silences are so loud that even the unborn are already thinking Biafra.

50 years on: An ode to the land of the rising sun and Nigeria’s inconvenient truth

~Vanguard Nigeria. Tuesday, May 30, 2017.

“O Igbo arise! O Igbo arise! O Igbo arise! 
Let the chains of subjugation be broken, let the yoke of slavery be shattered and let the shackles of servitude fall.

For the voices of your ancestors and your dead are calling. The voices of your slaughtered children wail, scream and screech through the night and they shed whimpering and pitiful tears through the day. They call for justice and vengeance that their souls may be appeased and that they may find peace and eternal rest. For they were slaughtered in their millions and they were butchered like cattle in the sanctity and privacy of their churches and homes.

They cry for Biafra. 
They cry for the land of the rising sun. 
They cry for the memory of the fallen and those that stood like men to defend their honor. 
They cry for the pitiful souls of the children yet unborn. Heed their cry and honor their sacrifice. Forget not the land of the rising sun. Forget not Biafra. Forget not the slaughtered millions and those that were cut short in the prime of their infancy”- ‘The Land Of The Rising Sun’, 
~Femi Fani-Kayode, May 30th 2017. 

I have written this essay as a historian and not as a politician. Consequently I am not guided or bound by political correctness but rather by truth. 
I do not seek to create division but rather to establish the facts with a view to ensuring justice and healing the wounds. I do not believe that we can ever have peace in our country without that justice. I write this essay for the helpless and innocent victims of ethnic cleansing, mass murder and genocide that were cut short during the civil war and I dedicate it to them. I write it as a patriotic Nigerian who fervently and passionately believes in the equality of every Nigerian, regardless of ethnicity or faith, and in justice for all. 

I write it as the voice of the voiceless, the servant of truth and for those that cannot speak for themselves because they are either dead and buried or because they do not have the skill, the reach or the wherewithal to do so. I write it for the young and new generation of Nigerians and particularly the Igbo who have no knowledge or recollection of most of these ugly events and who were never taught history in our schools because the powers that be did not want them to know. I write it in the name of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not an essay for the cowardly, the faint-hearted, the slow, the intellectually challenged or the dull but rather for those that courageously seek truth and that thirst for knowledge about our very ugly past. It seeks to shine the light of truth into the darkness of deceit, lies, historical revisionism and the continuous and godless suppression of the ugly and utterly barbaric facts. 

Ojukwu's 1967 speech that called for secession of Biafra

Source: From the archives: Declaration of Biafra.

~Vanguard Nigeria. Tuesday, May 30, 2017.

Late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

Exactly a day like today, 30 May 1967, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the then Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria declared the sovereign state of Biafra in a speech that got Ndigbo fighting for self independence from Nigeria.

For three years, the defunct Country, Biafra, fought Nigeria in a civil war that claimed millions of lives.

Today, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB led by Nnamdi Kanu, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Biafra Independent Movement, BIM, and other pro-Biafra groups have declared a commemoration to mark Biafra Day.

However, below is the speech delivered by Ojukwu in 1967, urshering in the civil war.

By Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu:

Fellow countrymen and women, you, the people of Eastern Nigeria:

Conscious of the supreme authority of Almighty God over all mankind, of your duty to yourselves and posterity;

Aware that you can no longer be protected in your lives and in your property by any Government based outside Eastern Nigeria;

Believing that you are born free and have certain inalienable rights which can best be preserved by yourselves;

Unwilling to be unfree partners in any association of a political or economical nature;

Rejecting the authority of any person or persons other than the Military Government of Eastern Nigeria to make any imposition of whatever kind or nature upon you;

Determined to dissolve all political and other ties between you and the former Federal Republic of Nigeria;

Prepared to enter into such association, treaty or alliance with any sovereign state within the former Federal Republic of Nigeria and elsewhere on such terms and conditions as best to subserve your common good;

Affirming your trust and confidence in me;

Having mandated me to proclaim on your behalf, and in your name, that Eastern Nigeria be a sovereign independent Republic,

Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of "The Republic of Biafra". And I do declare that-

1. all political ties between us and the Federal Republic of Nigeria are hereby totally dissolved;
2. all subsisting contractual obligations entered into by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by any person, authority or organization or government acting on its behalf, with any person, authority or organization operating, or relating to any matter or thing, within the Republic of Biafra, shall henceforth be deemed to be entered into with the Military Governor of the Republic of Biafra for and on behalf of the Government and people of the republic of Biafra, and the covenants thereof shall, subject to this Declaration, be performed by the parties according to their tenor;

iii. all subsisting international treaties and obligations made on behalf of eastern Nigeria by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, shall be honored and respected;

1. Eastern Nigeria's due share of all subsisting international debits and obligations entered into by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on behalf of the Federation of Nigeria shall be honored and respected;
2. steps will be taken to open discussions of the question of Eastern Nigeria's due share of the assets of the Federation of Nigeria and personal properties of the citizens of Biafra throughout the Federation of Nigeria;
3. the rights, privileges, pensions, etc. of all personnel of the Public Services, the Armed Forces and the Police now serving in any capacity within the Republic of Biafra, are hereby guaranteed;

vii. we shall keep the door open for association with, and would welcome, any sovereign unit or units in the former Federation of Nigeria or in any other parts of Africa desirous of association with us for the purposes of running a common services organization and for the establishment of economic ties;
viii. we shall protect the lives and property of all foreigners residing in Biafra; we shall extend the hand of friendship to those nations who respect our sovereignty, and shall repel any interference in our internal affairs;

1. we shall faithfully adhere to the charter of the Organization of African Unity and of the United Nations Organization;
2. It is our intention to remain a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations in our right as a sovereign, independent nation.

Long live the Republic of Biafra! And may God protect all who live in her!

Nigeria's unfairness to the Igbo, a ticking time bomb – Nnia Nwodo

Written by Mike Ebonugwo, Clifford Ndujihe, Gbenga Oke & Yinka Ajayi
~Vanguard Nigeria. Sunday, February 12, 2017.

NDIGBO TALKS TOUGH: Biafra becomes an inevitable answer if… •

PRESIDENT-GENERAL of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and two-time minister, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, does not want to witness another civil war in the country because of the nasty experience of the first one between 1967-1970. Consequently, he wants all sections of the country to truthfully air their grievances to enable Nigerians fashion a constitution themselves that will give rise to a true federation. Speaking for the Igbo, he said there is urgent need to address age-long maltreatment of the Igbo, which gave rise to agitation for Biafra Republic by Igbo youth, stressing that Nigeria's unfairness to the Igbo is a ticking time bomb. He spoke to an editorial team of Vanguard in Lagos on Thursday.

One month after your election as President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, how has it been?

It has been humbling and this is because the result of the election was an overwhelming mandate. To be unanimously chosen by your people is a phenomenon and it has been challenging in terms of rising up to accepting the unanimous decision. The expectations are very high because I was elected at a time of extreme national concern for our national cohesion and very strong apprehensions.

So I have a work which is humbling and challenging and demands energy more than what a 65 year old man can offer. So I look up to God to find a balance and the energy to handle the job.

Concerning the expectations of your people, what are the takeaways from your ongoing consultations across the country?

Well, I won't confine it to my people because I have been consulting beyond my people. I have been receiving calls, letters and congratulatory messages from across the length and breath of this country. Beginning with my constituency, there is an awakening of consciousness already in the existence of Ohanaeze. It will be too immodest to attribute it to myself but our people have an increased resort to Ohanaeze as an instrument for vocalizing their difficulties and in all my interactions, I have vocalized their frustrations with the Nigerian federation.


They have vocalized their expectations from our country. They have harped on the need for consciousness of its leadership to respond to their yearnings and aspirations. So they have set a benchmark for me. Among other Nigerians, it is very difficult to draw a common line. The northern Nigerian traditional rulers through the Sultan of Sokoto sent me a congratulatory letter and the Sultan personally called me. Several former heads of states, former vice presidents including Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, which I have met with, I have extended a hand of fellowship to a lot of these people. I am meeting with the Afenifere tomorrow (Friday), the Niger/Delta people have called me on the phone. My friends in the Middle Belt have also congratulated me. The South East caucus in the National Assembly has also congratulated me. Virtually all the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria have called to congratulate me and various Igbo organisations that have affiliation with Ohanaeze Ndigbo have called to congratulate me.

We'll use all means possible to achieve Biafra -Egemba

Written by Magnus Eze, Abuja
~The SUN Nigeria. Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

Dr. Chukwuma Egemba

A United Kingdom-based dyed-in-the-wool Biafra campaigner, Dr. Chukwuma Egemba, is a close confidant of Nnamdi Kanu, the incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). This co-founder of Radio Biafra who was in Abuja recently on solidarity visit to Kanu in Kuje prison, thereafter granted exclusive interview to Daily Sun on their meeting, the future of Biafra struggle, strategy and why there's no going back on Biafra.

May we know why you are in Abuja?

I was in Abuja to pay solidarity visit to my friend, Nnamdi Kanu who has been held against his wish since October 2015. I have not had the opportunity to visit him until now and I am happy that I have had this opportunity to see him; to catch up, know how he is, and discuss a lot of things about our struggle; about IPOB, about his freedom, about the future of the Biafran resurrection efforts.

What did you see and hear from Kanu?

I can say that I was relatively okay with his physical appearance; that's what was giving me concern, although I do see him occasionally on photographs during court appearance, but photograph is one thing and seeing face to face is another thing entirely. So, I saw him; asked him about his health, and he confirmed to me that he's is in good health, that he doesn't have any health issue or any major challenge at all. And his physical appearance confirmed to me and looking at him showed me that he's almost the person that I know. I am happy that he's relatively in good health.

With the pressure from different quarters for IPOB to negotiate with government, what did he tell you as his position on that?

His position hasn't changed. You can't negotiate when somebody is under lock and key. We can only negotiate effectively, productively and constructively if he is out and when he is out. As a free person and leader of IPOB; he can then stand firmly without being under prison influence or confinement and be able to negotiate freely for and on behalf of the Biafran people toward the actualisation of Biafra and restoration of Biafra efforts.

What has been your involvement in the IPOB or Biafra struggle?

Before IPOB, I have known Nnamdi Kanu and we have worked together since the summer of 1996; since then we have been working together in various aspects of the Biafra restoration struggle including the setting up of Radio Biafra.

Igbo'll not forget Biafra, Ikedife tells Buhari

Written by Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
~The SUN Nigeria. Wednesday, September 28, 2016. 

• President afraid of Biafra - IPOB

Former president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife has described as day-dream, the thinking by anybody including President Muhammadu Buhari, that Ndigbo would forget Biafra or jettison the self determination struggle.

Consequently, he has called on President Buhari, who at the just concluded United Nations (UN) General Assembly said he would not allow referendum on Biafra, to discard the thought that Igbo would be in a hurry to forget Biafra.

Speaking to newsmen yesterday in Nnewi Anambra state, Ikedife, who is the deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), restated that nothing would make Ndigbo forget the 30- month civil war experience and what they suffered in the hands of the Nigerian government.

"How can we forget Biafra when the life of every Igbo man was reduced to worth only 20 pounds, and some of us refused to collect our own till date?

"How can we forget Biafra when the reconciliation, rehabilitation and reintegration were declared after the war and the first step was to go to Lagos and rebuild the Third Mainland Bridge?

"How can we forget Biafra when up till this day, the second Niger Bridge has not been constructed?

"How can we forget Biafra when for 30 months our territory was landlocked and we watched our children die of starvation? Tell us how we can forget Biafra? Tell President Buhari that we will never forget Biafra. Never!"

Ikedife insisted that Biafra would never be forgotten even if all the people that experienced the war died, stressing that the story would continue to be told from generation to generation.

He described last Saturday's sit-at-home declared by IPOB as a huge success.

Ikedife said people obeyed the order, "not for fear of being molested, but to express their genuine quest and demand for self determination."

Meanwhile, IPOB has said President Buhari was afraid of a Republic of Biafra.

IPOB, in a statement signed by Victoria. O. C. Agangan, said the president, by his comment that he would not allow referendum on Biafra, exposed his fears and insisted that it was no longer a fable, but a reality, that 'Biafra is not far-fetched'.

Separarists, militants and 'iyalaya' anybody!

Written by Lekan Sote

~The Punch Nigeria. Wednesday, August 10, 2016.

Prof Biodun Jeifo brought "igilangogeesi," Yoruba onomatopoeia for grandiloquence, to academic discourse. Prof Pius Adesanmi dredged the "iyalaya anybody" lingo from the most uncouth aspects of the underbelly of the Lagos streets to make a brilliant submission to a distinguished audience of actors, professionals, and corporate types.

To the Yoruba, "iyalaya" means grandmother, granddame, matriarch, or female ancestor. When conjoined with the indefinite pronoun, "anybody," "iyalaya" is more than just a modifier. Both words together express scant regard for the opinion of significant or insignificant others.

The rhetoric of Nigeria's separatists, militants, and insurgents, are very hardline indeed. The separatist Indigenous (some say, Igbo) People of Biafra, and Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, militant Niger Delta Avengers, and insurgent Boko Haram, are at their most blatant in-your-face as they openly challenge the Nigerian state.

They are gung ho in their quests to exit Nigeria, put no store to the opinion of "iyalaya anybody," and are not remiss in proclaiming it from the rooftops. IPOB, for instance, has little regard for the sensibilities of the older Igbo generation, some of whom have suggested the more moderate path of political restructuring of Nigeria.

Membership of IPOB is said to be largely from the age bracket of Generation X, iGen, and the Millennial, who some say, hardly know the horrors of the Nigerian Civil War. They are prepared to achieve their goals by violence, and probably think that pacifist MASSOB, from where they broke away, is sissy, and the moderate Ohanaeze Ndigbo, pliant.

Without being asked, IPOB admits to running a pirate protest radio station named after Radio Biafra of the Republic of Biafra. The language of this radio station is decidedly strident, graphic, even swashbuckling. It has no qualms in sending vitriolic words to Nigerians, their President, and any Igbo who does not seem to share the vision or enthusiasm for separatist Biafra.

Biafra Anniversary Violence: Pro-Biafran activists, security agents in bloody clashes • 30 feared dead in Onitsha, two cops, five others killed in Delta

Topics:

•  53 killed, 207 injured, 403 arrests
• Pro-Biafran activists, security agents in bloody clashes • 30 feared dead in Onitsha, two cops, five others killed in Delta

_____________________________________________

Pro-Biafran activists, security agents in bloody clashes • 30 feared dead in Onitsha, two cops, five others killed in Delta
Story by: Chukwudi Akasike, Ozioma Ubabukoh, Ihuoma Chiedozie, Mudiaga Affe, Tony Okafor,Ochei Uche, Gibson Achonu and Godwin Udoh
~Punch, Nigeria. Tuesday, May 31, 2016

No fewer than 30 persons and a soldier were allegedly killed on Monday in Onitsha, the Anambra State capital, after some pro-Biafran protesters, said to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the defunct Biafra republic, engaged soldiers and policemen in a bloody clash.

Leaders of the protesters did not, however, produce the corpses of those said to have been killed by security operatives, but one of our correspondents saw two corpses in Onitsha on Monday.

The late Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared the secession of the Republic of Biafra from Nigeria on May 30, 1966.

The anniversary of the declaration, however, turned bloody when members of the Indigenous People of Biafra reportedly clashed with security agencies in Onitsha while some members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra clashed with security operatives in Asaba, the Delta State capital, where two policemen were allegedly killed.

On the other hand, The PUNCH gathered that the Joint Security Taskforce arrested the Nnewi South Regional Administrator of MASSOB, Anthony Nwodo.

"Nwodo and 14 others were arrested at the Ezinifite area in the state on their way back home after the observation of the celebration," an IPOB Leader, Mr. Sunny Chukwuebuka, said on Monday.

IPOB spokesperson, Mr. Emma Powerful, said, "They killed about 25 of our armless members at Nkpor without any cause. They just opened fire on us as we were having a peaceful procession.

"As I speak to you, and from the statistics we have on the ground, 22 of our members were also killed in other parts of the state, just like that."

According to him, two out of the IPOB members that died met their sudden death at the Niger Bridge head.

"They were coming from Asaba, the Delta State capital, with others to join their Anambra counterparts in the celebration. On getting to the bridge, they met a stiff resistance from the JST and it resulted in a bloody clash and consequently a policeman died while a soldier was stabbed," he added.

A source in the Press Unit of the Government House said the Governor, Mr. Willie Obiano, had "convened an urgent security meeting to seek ways to curb the crisis before it escalates." We will issue a statement as soon as we get a directive to do so."

However, Mr. Emmanuel Omenka, the Personal Assistant to the MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, said, "No amount of killing of Biafra agitators will deter us from fighting to actualise a sovereign state of Biafra."

Pro-Biafra protesters - Biafra: 6 IPOB members shot dead in Aba, 30 injured, 45 in Police net

On this Topic:

• Pro-Biafra protesters storm Enugu
• Biafra protest rages in South East -Group called Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) marches in Aba, vows to shut down city Monday
• 'Biafra agitation aimed at igniting national conflict'
• Why Do Our People Fight Against Their Own Interests?
• MASSOB taunts Britain
• ‘Pro-Biafra protests not in the interest of south-east people’ -Gov Okorocha
• Biafra: Ohanaeze to meet with protesting youths 
• Rivers: Two feared killed in pro-Biafra protest
• Nigeria won't be free until Biafra is free - Nnamdi Kanu
• Rev Fr. Mbaka says pro Biafra protests ‘evil’
• MASSOB hits back at Mbaka
• Kanu's mum, sister lead protest
• Mbaka gives condition to support protest
• Jonathan’s men sponsoring pro-Biafran protests – Group
• Biafra: Count us out, S-South tells agitators
• Call Fr. Mbaka to order - Bishop
• Ohanaeze Ndigbo demand unconditional release of Radio Biafra director, draws condemnation from MASSOB and IPOB
• Bloody pro-Biafran protests in Onitsha • Soldier, cop, four others feared killed, mosque burnt
• Still on pro- Biafra agitation
• Muslim leaders urge caution over pro-Biafra violence
• Biafra: MASSOB, IPOB to halt demonstrations
• Biafra agitators take protest to Alaba Market in Lagos
• Court orders Kanu’s release, five die as pro-Biafran supporters, soldiers clash
• Biafra: 6 IPOB members shot dead in Aba, 30 injured, 45 in Police net

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MARCHING ON

I will march amidst guns and bullets
staging but a peaceful protest
For what cause I uphold is true and just!

My brothers, mothers, fathers and sisters has been shot
Some killed and more killings there to come
But that doesn’t scare us anymore
Instead death seems to be scared of us
Armless as we’re, our collective slogan is our weapon
We’ll use it until victory is achieved!

I will march unrelenting and unbroken
Chanting the Biafran anthem
I will march with others in solidarity
Until our feet are swollen

Come rain come sun
The struggle has already begun
It’s not the drums of war that beat but the drums of self liberation
Soon the world we hear of this sound
Soonest a world assemble would be summoned

There and then we’ll demand for our freedom
We can’t continue to wait till their kingdom come
Why are they scared of a referendum?
We need a nation of our own
Biafran is our country and home

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Pro-Biafra protesters storm Enugu

WRITTEN BY FRANCIS IGATA - Vanguard, Nigeria. 

ENUGU Hundreds of Pro-Biafra supporters stormed Enugu metropolis at the wee hours of Sunday, protesting the continued detention of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu and demanding urgent recognition of the Sovereign State of Biafra.

This came as Nnamdi Kanu,Director, Radio Biafra was arrested and arraigned secretly at the Magistrate Court,Wuse 11,Abuja by the Department of State Security Services,DSS, but was later granted bail on October 19.

The protesters clad in Biafra red and black colours, marched through major streets of Enugu metropolis chanting anti-Federal Government slogans insisted that the DSS should quickly release Nnamdi following the fulfillment of his stringent bail conditions by his Lawyer,Mr. Vincent Obetta.

They were however peaceful as motorists were allowed to ply without any confrontation.

In a text message to Vanguard from the factional Director of Information,Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra,MASSOB,Mr. Uchenna Madu,”we are in full support of the ongoing massive demonstration against the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu by DSS.

“Our factional members are part of the ground breaking protest and will continue with IPOB till our demand for Nnamdi Kanu’s release is achieved. For the sake of Biafra love for our fatherland and the spirit of brotherhood,MASSOB shall continue to identify with genuine,selfless Biafra agitation as showcased with Nnamdi Kanu.

BIAFRA passport valid – MASSOB

Written by BY UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE - Vanguard, Nigeria.

ABA- Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafra, MASSOB, has said that Biafran passports being issued to its citizens are valid and accepted in various countries across the globe.

It insisted that many citizens of Biafra had used the passport issued by the Biafran Directorate of Passport, and travelled overseas without hitches.

In an interview with Vanguard, MASSOB's National Director of Information, Sunny Okereafor, warned the federal government to stop seizing Biafra passport or threatening its holders.

According to him, "I assure you the Biafran passport is valid. Except Nigeria, other countries of the world accept Biafran passport and allow our citizens to travel with it. In Europe, North and South America, Biafra passport is accepted. Nigeria is the only country that seizes Biafran passport. Go to neighbouring Ghana here, they will stamp the passport for you. Don't be confused by the propaganda of the Nigerian government that there is nothing like Biafra passport.

“MASSOB appeals to Biafra citizens to procure their passport and use it to travel. If you doubt me, get a Nigerian passport while I have my Biafran passport; when we get to Europe, you will see who they will welcome than the other.

"Many people with Nigerian passport have been repatriated, but have you heard of anybody with Biafran passport receiving such ill-treatment?"

He disclosed that the Biafran passport cost N5, 000 and could be renewed with N2, 000 and denied reports that people who bought the passport are being turned back at various airports

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MASSOB rebrands as Arewa youths sue for peace

Topics:

• MASSOB rebrands as Arewa youths sue for peace
• I remain MASSOB leader -Uwazuruike

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MASSOB rebrands as Arewa youths sue for peace

~TheGuardian, Nigeria.

CITING the need to consolidate as it transits from one level to another in the course of its struggle, the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has rebranded to Biafra Independent Movement (BIM).

Also, a group from Okigwe zone, led by Samuel Ogubuike, at the weekend, pledged allegiance for Ralph Uwazurike, saying the Uche Madu group was allegedly expelled in 2014 for adopting violent approach to their struggle.

Rising from a crucial meeting yesterday in Owerri, Uwazurike, accompanied by a member and known lawyer, Uche Okwukwu, named Chief Edwin Ileagu, from the Enugu West zone of the group, as new leader of BIM, adding that he would lead for two weeks, at first instance, adding that in the new movement, everybody was regarded as a leader on a rotational basis.

MASSOB counters Buhari, sure of UN referendum on Biafra

~TheGuardian, Nigeria. 

MOVEMENT for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), yesterday disagreed with President Muhammadu Buhari over his statement that Nigeria was indivisible, describing it as his 'personal opinion.'

The Movement also boasted that the United Nations (UN) would conduct a referendum for Biafrans to decide on the popularity and acceptance of their cause. The group took a swipe at the military's decision to quell pro-Biafra protests, just as the South East governors enjoined the protesters to tow the line of peace.

But the Acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division of Nigerian Army, Enugu, Brig-General Ibrahim Attahiru yesterday re-emphasised the warning against insecurity which the Division issued on Monday to pro-Biafra protesters. "Agitators should know that there is a certain borderline they should not cross," he said.

Briefing journalists yesterday in his office on the activities of pro-Biafran demonstrators across cities in the South East and South South zones, the GOC stressed that as a reminder, the Nigerian Army would like to send an unequivocal warning to all and sundry, more especially to "all those threatening and agitating for the dismemberment of the country, committing treasonable felony and arson, as well as wanton destruction of lives and property, that once deployed, the Nigerian Army shall apply the Rules of Engagement (RoE) to the letter in order for peace to prevail."

However, in a bid to douse the anxiety and end the demonstrations in the South East, occasioned by MASSOB and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), the Forum of South East Governors yesterday called for an expanded meeting of stakeholders in the zone before reaching a decision.