Tension In South East Over Biafra Agitation
There is anxiety over the
renewed agitation for Biafra by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and
Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
According to The Nation report, the tension is fuelled by the aggressive manner the agitators have been “brainwashing” young people to join the movement.
People are worried that if it is not
curtailed, it may transform into another form of terrorism that would compound
the problems Nigeria is facing such as kidnapping, armed robbery and other
anti-social activities.
The pro-Biafra agitators have carried out a
number of protests in the past one week.
An Igbo leader who spoke on the issue, said it
is risky to openly talk about the Biafra group as you’ll be taken as enemy
against their agitation.
“The truth is that there is nothing
positive about what they are doing. They are opportunists and relevance-
seeking people who are misleading unsuspecting youths to take to an unworthy
cause,” he said.
Report has it that the pro-Biafra agitators
have started recruiting young people to join the movement in various parts of
the country.
This was confirmed by Ikedigwe Raphael, an
IPOB coordinator in Lagos state.
He said: “IPOB is divided into groups A and
B. Group A comprises Bayelsa, Rivers, Abia, Imo, Akwa-Ibom and Cross River,
while group B comprises Anambra, Enugu, Delta and Ebonyi. We regard any other
state, region or zone not captured in the aforementioned groups in the country
as a zoo.
“The protests will continue until the
director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, is released. Benjamin Onwuka of Biafran
Zion Movement (BZM) and others currently arrested should also be released.”
Igbo traders and commercial motorcycle operators
have been reportedly recruited in Lagos.
A commercial motorcycle operator disclosed
that they were taught various songs during a training conducted by the leaders
of the agitators.
“The high point of the protest will occur
in December when we will travel home en masse to hold a mass protest. The
arrangement is concluded and all we are waiting for is the right time to strike,”
he stated.
Emeka Okafor, the zonal leader of MASSOB said
that Ndigbo are fully aware of the implication of secessionist agitation,
stressing that a pogrom is already taking place in the northern part of the
country where he said Ndigbos are being targeted for mass killing.
According to two leading members of IPOB in
Anambra state, Osita Amaechina and Obinna Remigus Ani, their interest was to
actualise Biafra like Southern Sudan, Eritrea and others, which was the reason
they were non-violent.
Speaking on Friday,
November 13, the new defence minister, Monsur Dan-Ali
said the pro-Biafra agitation in parts of the South-East may escalate and
constitute a threat to national unity if it is not checked.
He called on parents and
community leaders in the southeast and south-south regions of the country to
ensure that they caution and educate their wards on the negative implication
of their actions.
Source: Naij.com
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