IPOB, MASSOB name Delta, Rivers, Edo, others Biafran states

The Movement for the Actialization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Biafra Independent Movement (BIM) yesterday faulted President Muhammadu Buhari for recognising only the South-East geo-political zone as states canvasing Biafra’s independence.

While the group said it was a good omen in the first instance for the President to acknowledge that Biafra had become a household name in the east, they disagreed that Delta, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Edo, Bayelsa and Cross- River were missing out.

The groups said the Federal Government goofed by forgetting that the five eastern states, namely, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi, were neatly knitted with their neighbouring South South zone in the old Eastern region. This came after Governoe Ifeanyi Okowa disowned Biafra agitators and warned them against coopting Delta state among the states in the struggle.

The newly appointed MASSOB leader in Delta state, Chinedu Amaifeobu supported by the Zonal Commander of Security, Ignatius Adili-Ajana, in Asaba yesterday said the South East and the South- South states were abinitio tied by the same umbilical cord.

According to him, the two geo-political zones were bonded by the same cultural, spiritual, moral and religious heritage, hence, the government of Nigeria would not hound them out of Biafra. He said: “We urge our South-South brothers and sisters not to be deluded by the divide and rule antics of the Nigerian government but remember the sons and daughters of whom they are.

“That is why we are calling on the United States of America that has just produced Mr. Donald Trump as President-elect, the United Nations, France, China and other international communities, to join in the celebration of Ojukwu’s memorial day.”

While the MASSOB leader hailed the leadership style of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, recalled that the legacies of late Ikemba, Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu, and traced the origin of Biafran title to a South- South man, from Ijaw ethic nationality in Delta state, he enjoined the people of the South-South region to respond to the clarion call of Biafra.

He said in as much as MASSOB/BIM had upheld the tenet of ‘non-violent and no exodus’, President Buhari should not fan embers of discord with his utterances