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  • Police apprehend suspected MASSOB member in Anambra

    Police apprehend suspected MASSOB member in Anambra

    The Police  in Anambra has arrested  a suspected member of the proscribed Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in Nnewi area of the state.

    This is contained in a statement by SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the command’s Public Relations Officer in the state on Wednesday in Awka.

    He said that items recovered from the  suspect included, a motorcycle, branded T-shirt and his identity card as a member of MASSOB.

    Ikenga said that  operatives of the Rapid Response Squad in Nnewi Sector, acting on credible information on how the proscribed MASSOB has planned to enforce sit-at-home on May 30, arrested the suspect  on May 26.

    Ikenga said that the suspect who confessed to being a member and informant to the proscribed group, has made useful information that is aiding the investigation for the possible arrest of other suspects.

    The police spokesperson said that the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Ikioye Orutugu has directed the operatives to intensify their onslaught against criminals in the state, given the confession by the suspects.

    The co missione urged them to step up surveillance operations to thwart any unlawful gathering in the state.

  • National Assembly should be blamed for worsening insecurity in the country – MASSOB

    National Assembly should be blamed for worsening insecurity in the country – MASSOB

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has blamed the National Assembly for the poor handling of the planned impeachment of  President Buhari.

    MASSOB posited that the Senate watched helplessly and couldn’t make any meaningful move as the insecurity issues in the country worsened.

    MASSOB’s position was made known by the group’s National Director of Information, Sunday Okereafor when he addressed pressmen on Friday.

    Okereafor said the goings on in Nigeria were similar to what had happened in countries like Liberia, Serbia, and Yugoslavia, adding that leaders of such nations were meant to face the law for their failure to protect the lives of the citizens.

    He said, “The Senate must be held responsible for the killings in the country. The Senate building is very beautiful, but there is no foundation.

    “It will fall one day. How can the Senate be there and people are being killed? Tomorrow, you will hear, ‘We will impeach Buhari’; next tomorrow, you will hear again, ‘We will impeach Buhari’.

    “Finally, when they give them money, they won’t say anything again. They (senators) should be ashamed of themselves. They should be ashamed that as the pillar of democracy in the nation, they can’t do anything.”

    On the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, he said the Buhari regime was paying lip service to their demands because many top politicians like senators had their children schooling abroad.

    “Most of those who call themselves elites are there and ASUU is on strike for over five months. The government cannot even pay the teachers. But they send their children to France, Germany, America a,nd Israel, and abandon their education to die. Most of them are building refineries overseas and NiNigeria’sefineries are in a bad shape.

    “Even in the oil-bearing communities, there are no roads. Tell me, the Senate of Nigeria, is it not the upper house in the National Assembly, which should decide what is good for the country and make laws?

    “MASSOB and the Biafra Independent Movement are asking, who are they deceiving? Today, tomorrow, we will impeach the President. After collecting money, you won’t hear from them again. It is a shame!”

    He added, “Nigerians voted them into office. But what are they doing to help protect the people? How can they be there and insecurity is rising every day?

    “The Senate must be brought to justice for allowing the killings in the country. Today they will say impeach Buhari and when they give them money, they will keep quiet. Who are they deceiving? MASSOB and BIM are asking.”

  • MASSOB declares stand on Anambra guber race, says it must hold

    MASSOB declares stand on Anambra guber race, says it must hold

    The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State Of Biafra, MASSOB, has declared that the scheduled Anambra guber race must hold on November 6.

    The group assured residents that the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State must hold despite contrary stand by IPOB.

    MASSOB also encouraged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to go ahead without distraction in conducting the governorship election, come weekend.

    The pro-Biafra group disclosed this in a statement by its Director of Information, Edeson Samuel, on Monday.

    This is coming a few days after the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in the Southeast declared a seven-day sit-at-home protest in the South-East starting from November 5, if Nnamdi Kanu is not released.

    The sit-at-home is expected to start on the eve of the Anambra State governorship election.

    The statement read, “The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) under the leadership of Comrade Uchenna Madu after our National meeting presided by our leader have declared as follows:

    “That the Anambra State governorship election must be peaceful and, credible as MASSOB has issued out instructions to our 21 LGA coordinators, 3 senatorial zonal leaders, 310 provincial administrators and all MASSOB securities to assist in effecting a peaceful and credible election in Anambra State.

    “That MASSOB has encouraged the Independent Electoral Commission to go ahead without distraction in conducting the governorship election this weekend.

    That MASSOB advised the people of Anambra State and other residents in Anambra to exercise their fundamental and constitutional rights of electing their next governor because Anambra political space will never be in vacuum.

  • Amnesty for terrorists, call for breakup- MASSOB urges Ohanaeze

    Amnesty for terrorists, call for breakup- MASSOB urges Ohanaeze

    The Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Ohanaeze Ndigbo have warned the Federal Government that creating an agency for ex-terrorists as proposed by some lawmakers is an attempt to disintegrate Nigeria.

    The groups said incentivising terrorists through an agency would mean an approval of the killings, maiming and kidnapping of Nigerians by the group.

    The leaders of the zones viewed the development as capable of compounding insecurity and dividing the country, while some youths saw the development a step to fast-track the realisation of a Biafra republic.

    Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which accused the Federal Government of promoting ‘divisive tendencies” by its body language to insecurity caused by Boko Haram insurgents, insisted that granting amnesty to the group would encourage other self-determination groups to become armed.

    The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, said the group does not believe that the captured Boko Haram members truly repented, and he added that certain forces beyond such members might have forced them into submission.

    Nwodo said, “The president continues to confirm that he shares some ideological affinity with Boko Haram. How can you offer amnesty to captured aggressors whose remorse is induced by hopelessness rather than genuine change of mind?

    “How can you categorise armless IPOB as terrorists and give amnesty to unrepentant aggressors? This duplicity of standards and undisguised bias betray his oath of office and deepens our divide in the country.

    “If Boko Haram is granted amnesty, other self-determination groups are being indirectly encouraged to become armed and militant.”

    The Executive Director, Civil Liberties Organisation, Ibuchukwu Ezike, agreed with Ohanaeze, stating that captured Boko Haram members had not shown remorse or surrendered willingly to earn amnesty.

    “When somebody truly repents of his actions and you are giving amnesty to him or her, it is acceptable. It is not acceptable when somebody continues to inflict pains on the people and commits all kinds of evil against the society and you want amnesty granted to such a person.

    “Again when somebody is motivated to take an action against the state or the people, there is something that you can say is making the person to take up arms against the state and you will begin to talk of doing something to assuage his anger. In this case, nobody has told us why they took up arms. They set homes and communities on fire without justification and have made millions of widows in the society as well as made several people live in asylum,” he said.

    MASSOB leader, Uchenna Madu, also said that the ploys by the Federal Government to treat the Fulanis, Boko Haram members and the criminal bandits operating in core northern states as “beloved children of Arewa must lead to break up Nigeria.”

    He said: “The move to introduce the bill for the establishment of a national agency for repentant Boko Haram terrorists by Moslem-dominated Senate of Nigeria is another grand plot of Islamic northern caliphate to transfer more Boko Haram trained terrorists with their terrorist activities to southern part of Nigeria.”

    Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Self-Determination Movement (NDSDM) has called on governors of the South-South region to immediately set up a regional security network that could aid the “overstretched” established security agencies in combating insecurity across the Niger Delta region.

    In a letter addressed to the chairman, South-South Governors’ forum, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, NDSDM said a regional security network had become imperative considering attacks on the Niger Delta by herdsmen.

  • We’ll resist construction of toll gates in South East – MASSOB

    We’ll resist construction of toll gates in South East – MASSOB

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) on Thursday said it would resist any plan by the federal government to introduce toll gates in South East.

    Speaking in an interview with The Nation Newspapers, MASSOB leader Comrade Uchenna Madu maintained it will resist the erection and dismantle all proposed toll gates in Biafra land.

    He said: “We can never fold our hands and watch outside strangers to continue destroying Igbo land in disguise as a government of Nigeria.

    ”Though Biafra seems to be an occupied territory by the Nigeria state, MASSOB and other pro Biafra groups will never allow Fulani invaders from Chad, Niger, Senegal, Sudan and Ethiopia to occupy Biafra land forcefully.”

    Madu insisted that there will be no toll gates in the zone as proposed by the government, wondering how establishment of these toll gates in Nigeria will ever work.

    “We have only five states in the South East with more than 56 toll gates than the entire 19 states of the Northern region with only 35 toll gates.

    “Igbo states are higher with 21 toll gates. This is in conformity that Igbo land is under siege and properly under exploitation.
    “South east has more police checkpoints than any other region in Nigeria. South east has the greatest number of dilapidated federal road networks than any other region in Nigeria even the northern region that claims to have the highest population and yet, they will pay the lowest of the federal government toll gate fees.”

    He wondered the basis for erecting more toll gates in the South East, saying toll gates should be done proportionately to reflect the mileage of federal roads in the zones.

    The leader of the movement also condemned South East governors and other Igbo political leaders, who he said substituted themselves to second class politicians in Nigeria.

    “Meeting President Buhari to beg for infrastructural development of Ala Igbo has also turned them to become political beggars.”

    He described the situation as unfortunate, adding that the present political leaders of Ndigbo have turned themselves to political chaff in the hands of Fulani cabals.
    “MASSOB is worried that our governors that supposed to be fearless have suddenly lost their Igbo bravery because of what they want to eat. Some leaders willingly turned themselves to become errand boys because they want to be vice president in 2023.

    “Meeting President Buhari is completely meaningless and inconsequential. We strongly believe that President Buhari will never ascent to their demands, they should go and develop their zone,” he said.

  • 2019: MASSOB dares IPOB, insists elections will hold in South-East

    2019: MASSOB dares IPOB, insists elections will hold in South-East

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has disagreed with the Indigenous People of Biafra over whether elections should hold this year in the South-East and other parts of the defunct Republic of Biafra.

    The outlawed IPOB, led by Nnamdi Kanu, has been insisting that the elections will not hold in the concerned areas, particularly the South-East states.

    But after a ‘National Executive Council meeting’ in Enugu on Friday, MASSOB declared that the scheduled elections would take place in ‘Biafraland’.

    MASSOB, which stressed that it would not back down from the agitation for a sovereign Biafran state, noted that pro-Biafra activists could not ‘forcibly’ impose their interests on the people of Nigeria.

    According to the group, southeasterners who believe in Nigeria are free to participate in the elections.

    A statement signed by the National Director of Information, MASSOB, Comrade Samuel Edeson, disclosed that the executive council meeting, which held at Awgu, Enugu State, was chaired by the group’s leader, Uchenna Madu.

    Parts of the statement read, “The leadership of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, after a National Executive Council meeting presided by our leader, Uchenna Madu, at our headquarters in Awgu, Enugu State, which was attended by all the local government area, state and zonal coordinators, as well as national directors, unanimously agreed and declared that this year’s general elections of the Nigerian state would not be stopped or boycotted in Biafraland.

    “MASSOB, having realised that Biafrans cannot forcibly impose our desires and interests on the people of Nigeria, and also in line with the principle of non-violence, unanimously agreed and resolved that the Nigerian state will conduct its political exercises, including general elections.

    “The Independent National Electoral Commission will be allowed to conduct elections in Biafra for our people that still believe in the Nigerian state.

    “Nigerian elections will come and go irrespective of whoever wins at both national and state levels but we must continue with the struggle for the actualisation of Biafra despite internal and external distractions.”

    Apparently referring to IPOB, the statement noted that Biafran agitators who wish to boycott the polls were free to stay at home on election days, without disturbing other members of the public who might wish to partake in the exercise.

    “MASSOB advises that other pro-Biafra groups that planned to boycott the elections are entitled to stay at home during elections days.

    “Our people that still believe in the Nigerian project are free to participate in the electoral processes of Nigeria, including this year’s elections,” the statement said.

    MASSOB added that it was committed to the actualisation of the Biafran state “through the principle of non-violence and international diplomacy in collaboration with other progressive pro-Biafra groups”.

  • Nnamdi Kanu resurfaced to make more money for himself not Biafra – MASSOB founder

    The Founder/Leader of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike, has said that the leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, resurfaced from his self imposed exile to take advantage of the election season to enrich himself the more.
    The MASSOB leader insisted that Kanu does not actually work for Biafra’s independence, but for his own “selfish interest.”
    He also advised Ndigbo to disregard Kanu’s Sunday broadcast in which he declared “no election/referendum;” adding that Kanu does not have the powers or the right to stop the Igbo people from participating in the 2019 general elections.
    “Last time, he carried a campaign that there wouldn’t be election in Anambra State and what eventually happened in the end?
    “Today, he has started again. He is back again after several months, because election is just by the corner, so as to deceive the people and mop up money for himself as the IPOB leader and in the name of fighting for the realisation of Biafra independence.”
    Uwazuruike who also doubles as the founder of Biafra Independent Movement, spoke on Monday in Owerri, Imo State.
    He contended that he was the Number One person and the protagonist in the agitation and struggle for the realisation of Biafra Republic.
    He further said that Kanu was only deceiving the people, adding that the dummy of no election, sit-at-home order, referendum and no census that Kanu was selling today was originally introduced by him for the realisation of the struggle.
    “In 2004, we in MASSOB came up with dummy of no election, sit-at-home order, referendum and no census, which Kanu is selling today in the Southeast as strategies towards gaining Biafra independence.
    “However, when I was later called by late Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu and other higher authorities that the strategies would have adverse effect on Ndigbo, we decided to drop them.
    “Today, Kanu is using the same dummy to cause confusion in the Biafran areas, not considering their adverse effects.”
    “For instance, the issue of no election is a constitutional matter. Kanu does not have the powers to say that election can never take place in the Southeast.
    “The truth is that in the Southeast, we have only five states and what a presidential candidate, for example, only needs to win his or her election is two-thirds majority vote.
    “If the five states out of the 36 states, including the FCT, do not vote and 31 states vote, two-thirds majority would still be gotten.
    “The president then has the powers to appoint anybody to be in charge of the other five states who do not vote. This is, therefore, politically detrimental to Ndigbo.”
    On referendum, Uwazuruike noted that it was not in the Nigerian constitution, adding that for it to be enshrined in the constitution, it must get the approval of the National Assembly and the Presidency.
    “These are things some Igbo people do not know. Kanu has started his campaign to cause more confusion for our people, which I call campaign of calumny and deceit.
    “The emergence of Kanu in 2009, 10 years after I had started the struggle, was stage-managed by the government to put confusion among the leaders and the people, strictly aimed at non-realisation of the republic.
    “What Kanu suffered recently in the hands of soldiers is just one-twentieth of what I have suffered in the course of this struggle.
    “A freedom fighter is always known for donating his life to the cause of the struggle. That he ran away after a while and reappeared during the electioneering period is deceitful.
    “He is being used to destabilise Ndigbo towards gaining the independence of Biafra.”
    Uwazuruike, nevertheless, expresses worries about the lives of innocent people recently killed in the last “Operation Python Dance” and in what he called “the deceitful way of agitating for Biafra sovereignty.”

  • Tension as IPOB, MASSOB, 11 others vow to celebrate Biafra’s anniversary

    The Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and other pro-Biafra groups have vowed to celebrate the 51st anniversary of the Republic of Biafra on May 30 notwithstanding the presence of security operatives in the South-East.

    A statement issued on Monday by Uchenna Madu, MASSOB leader; Felix Anochirimonye; leader of Eastern People’s Congress; Rita Anibuogu for Movement of Biafrans in Nigeria and Innocent Amadi, for Bilie Human Rights Initiative, said the group was not shaken by the heavy presence of security operatives and that the festivity would begin on May 29 with a candlelight parade.

    Also part of the group are the Igbo Youth Cultural and Restoration Initiative (IYCRI), Movement of Biafrans in Nigeria (MOBIN), Biafran National Liberation Council (BNLC), Biafran Revolutionary Organisation (BRO), Biafran Liberation Crusade (BLC), Joint Revolutionary Council of Biafra (JRCB), Biafra Revolutionary Force (BRF) and Customary Government of Biafra (CGB),

    “A coalition of pro-Biafran groups, which agreed to speak with one voice in one accord with unity of purpose, met and insisted on the earlier resolutions on 18th of April after our fifth monthly meeting that the annual May 30th celebration of the Biafran people will hold this year in a unique formula,” read the statement.

    The Biafran Central Council (BCC) and the Biafran United Liberation Council (BULCO) insisted on an anniversary where the members and people of Biafra will interface and reflect soberly on the real issues concerning Biafra emancipation.

    “This year’s anniversary will be celebrated by the people of Biafra, not as a pro-Biafra group but as a mark of respect and honour to our fatherland,” they said.

    “It is also a reminder to the visions and commandments of our great ancestors that we are not Nigerians but Biafrans.

    “We enjoin our people to get ready for the celebration of this great anniversary, which we will hold to remind ourselves to continue the self-determination movement for Biafra actualization and restoration.”

    Calls for the recognition of Biafra as a sovereign state by the Nigerian government appeared to be regaining momentum last year — until an Army crackdown on the South-East that led to the sudden disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

  • Killings: MASSOB advocates secession, rejects establishment of state police

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said the recommendation of state police by some elites as panacea for restoring peace in the country will not work.

    The group however demanded the division of Nigeria into six different republics as a positive step to ending the tribal conflicts that lingered for long.

    MASSOB argued that with the increasing rate of killings across the country, the consideration for state police as a recipe for peace and development was a waste of time and an avoidable rigmarole.

    The National Director of Information for the movement, Sunday Okereafor said in an interview with The Punch that Nigeria’s situation was almost irredeemable, especially with the massacre experienced in some parts of the country.

    Okereafor maintained that while Biafra was ready for secession, groups like Odua, Arewa and others should be also prepared to go their different ways.

    He pointed out that rather than the continued unprovoked murder of innocent people in the country, the United Nations should intervene and support the division of Nigeria into six independent states.

    He said, “We say no to state police; what we want is Biafra and the truth is that Nigeria should be divided into six states because the security situation in the country cannot be solved with state police.

    “How can some people be talking about state police when some groups are talking about going their different ways? If you consider the recent killings in Zamfara, Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa and other areas, you will see that the solution is secession.’’

    The MASSOB spokesman expressed surprise that some Nigerians had begun to talk about 2019 election when their people were being killed by Fulani herdsmen.

    He cautioned governors in the South-East and South-South who might want to succumb to pressure to provide land for ranches or grazing fields for herdsmen, adding that such governors would face the consequences of their action.

     

  • ‘Forget second term bid…Nigeria will not exist in 2019’ MASSOB tells Buhari

    The Movement for the Actualization of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari, to forget about his aspiration for re-election, saying Nigeria would disintegrate before 2019.

    The group also asked Atiku Abubakar and other political gladiators interested in the office of the president to perish their dreams as three nations would emerge from Nigeria before then.

    In a statement issued in Awka, Anambra State by the group’s leader, Uchenna Madu, the body said President Buhari would be the last president of a “unified” Nigeria.

    It maintained that no military might or alliances with Islamic international community will stop the soon emergence of Biafra.

    “MASSOB wishes to inform the political gladiators of Nigerian state that their 2019 political ambitions will not materialize because Nigeria as an entity will not exist beyond the year 2019.

    “Before the end of the year 2019, there will be no more Nigeria as a political entity, there will be newborn nations called Biafra, Oduduwa and Arewa republics,” it stated.

    The group described as a painful irony the way Nigeria retained the name given to her by the colonial masters, when countries as Gold Coast(Ghana) Upper Volta( Burkina Faso), Tanganyika ( Tanzania) and so on had changed their names immediately after their independence to reflect indigenous content.

    “MASSOB in collaboration with other Pro-Biafra groups in the genuine spirit of Biafra revolution declared that enough is enough,” the group said.

    “A new strategies and consolidation anchored on the principles of nonviolence will soon be unveil.

    “The coming together of pro-Biafra groups will multiply our synergies and double our consistent efforts towards Biafra actualization and restoration through our undying demand and pressure for a referendum that will determine our stake in the Biafra project.

    “We wish to remind the citizens and inhabitants of this geographical expression called Nigeria by the British colonial lords that God did not create us as Nigerians or our ancestors chose the cursed name called Nigeria.

    “We inherited and anchored our names through our native, cultural and traditional inclinations. It is only dogs and other domestic pets that retain and maintain names given to them by their lords and owners.

    “Some other nations of Africa who pride their native, cultural and traditional values as a mark of respect to their forefathers rejected the change of their country’s name British colonial master gave them but political gladiators in Nigeria want to sustain and preserve this geographical expression called Nigeria.

    “We are naturally and ancestrally called Biafra, Odududuwa and Arewa.”