We need more groups to achieve Biafra — BIM Shettima cautions agitators of secession, restructuring Boycott of Anambra election, inimical to Biafra struggle —Group
THE Biafra Reformation Movement, BRM, has said the call by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, to boycott Anambra governorship election is not in the interest of agitation for a separatist state of Biafra.
The group argued that such a call is an invitation to anarchy and an opportunity for Igbo enemies to unleash their desire on the Igbo nation.
It also suspected that IPOB has a hidden agenda and may be working for the Igbo enemy to declare a state of emegency in Anambra.
The group spoke as the leadership of Biafra Independence Movement, BIM, yesterday, said more pro-biafra groups were needed to ensure the realisation of the sovereign state of Biafra in the country.
This is even as Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State warned secessionist groups in the country against trying to plunge the nation into chaos, saying a refugee situation in Nigeria might be very difficult for the world to handle.
Anambra polls must hold—BRM
Leader of BRM, Comrade Ndubuisi Igwekani (aka Agu Biafra), in a press briefing in Enugu, therefore, declared that governorship election must hold in Anambra State come November 18, 2017.He recalled that the last time the Movememt for Actualization of Soverign State of Biafra, MASSOB, stopped Ndigbo from participating in a national census, the Igbo have continued to suffer the consequences of that careless decision.
He said: “Most Igbo were not counted and our number continued to decrease. So, we must be careful in our decisions and tactful in some actions we take, especially those that will not benefit us.
“Asking our people to boycott elections in Anambra may be an opportunity for an enemy to rule the state and I don’t see how beneficial it is to the Biafra struggle. It is rather against the interest of our people.
“The person championing that cause, I am even suspecting him because whether we boycott or not, elections will still hold and boycotting will not help us achieve Biafra.
Rather, we will be creating room for our enemies to come in.” On the notice of quit by Arewa youths, Igwekani, a founding member of BRM, said it is an empty threat and urged South-East governors to take steps to safeguard the lives of easterners in the north.
The group warned that should anything happen to any easterner in the North from October 1, there will be no guarantee that northerners in the east will be protected.”
We need more groups to achieve Biafra — BIM
The leader of BIM in Ebonyi State, Mr. Nwifuru John, who stated this in Abakaliki while briefing newsmen on the activities of the group added that BIM was not against the formation of more pro-Biafra groups but that any emerging group should be non-violent.According to Nwifuru, the emergence of more groups would help to inform the world that Ndigbo were not relenting until the struggle for Biafra is achieved. He said: “Uwazuruike has done many things since then.
He brought back Biafra currency, even Biafra uniform we are wearing now. He has achieved so many things before other groups came out and he still loves the groups because he cannot do it alone.
“We need more pro-Biafra groups. We cannot carry out the agitation alone and we are not against the present ones. We need more agitators to tell the world that we need Biafra.”
Shettima cautions agitators of secession, restructuring
Shettima, who spoke with journalists, yesterday, in Abuja also noted that the elite calling for restructuring were even more divided than the people in whose interest they claim to be making such calls.He said many elite were today afraid of visiting the rural areas to meet with the common man for fear of being molested, noting that there is a growing wave of discontent among the masses.
“Syria has only two million refugees knocking on the gates of Europe and the whole of Europe is shaking. Imagine what would happen if we were to have 30 million refugees. All the countries around us cannot take us, especially as they are also having their own challenges,” he stated.
The governor noted that unless the country’s leadership began to think towards improving the lot of the common man in the society and working for the people, the situation would deteriorate.
No to regionalism, yes to resource control—Igala leaders
Meantime, Igala leaders, under the aegis of Uk’omu Igala, an apolitical umbrella body of all Igala socio-cultural groups, also called for resource control as well as the creation of Okura State from the present Kogi State.National Leader of Uk’omu Igala, Maj. Gen. Patrick Akpa (retd), said “rather than return to regional government, the Igala nation supports the federal system as it is today, but that government should create Okura State in the interest of equity, justice and fairness.”
He said, “We reject any proposal for restructuring Nigeria, which takes us back to the idea of regionalism as if we are so forgetful about the ugly experiences of the First Republic.
“Regional governments in the First Republic squeezed and emasculated the minority ethnic nationalities in the North, West and East, and the bitterness associated with the report of the Willink Commission, which rejected the quest of minorities for separate states did not die until the premature collapse of the republic.”
Akpa expressed Igala nation’s rejection of the proposal by the North-Central Caucus at the 2014 National Political Conference, which called for the creation of Kainji State from Niger and Kebbi States, instead of recommending the creation of Okura State, which he said has been on the front burner of political discourse since 1981.
Agitations, reflection of political temperature —YCE
Also yesterday, a Yoruba sociocultural group, Yoruba Council of Elders, described the notice of quit by Arewa Youths and agitation for state of Biafra by IPOB as a reflection of political temperature of the country which signifies uneasiness.They said this after the 19th executive members meeting in Ibadan, yesterday. While speaking with newsmen, Secretary-General of the council, Dr Kunle Olajide said: “We are sitting on a keg of gunpowder because no part of the country, except the South-West, is at peace and that peace in the South-West is a peace of the graveyard.
We have the largest number of unemployed graduates and our infrastructure have collapsed. “As far as we (YCE) are concerned, the notice of quit by the Arewa Youths and the call for Biafra by IPOB are a reflection of political thermometer and temperature of Nigeria. It shows there is uneasiness in every part of this nation.”
