The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MASSOB

  • One dead as MASSOB, Igbo youths clash

    One person was reportedly killed when members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) clashed with members of the Association of Igbo Youths Organisation (AIYO) in Onitsha, Anambra State.

    Several others were injured in the attack, which allegedly occurred in a forest on the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway.

    A source said the MASSOB members invaded an “illegal torture camp”, which allegedly belongs to AIYO inside the forest to dislodge them.

    The police confirmed the incident but insisted that there was no casualty.

    Police spokesman Emeka Chukwuemeka said the presence of the police and other security agents on the scene was to maintain law and order.

    He called on MASSOB and AIYO members to maintain the peace and called on the public to go about their businesses without fear.

    MASSOB’s Director of Information Uchenna Madu confirmed the operation but denied any death.

    Madu said MASSOB, acting on complaints from the public about the activities of AIYO, moved in to restore peace and security in Onitsha.

    He said: “MASSOB, as the genuine Igbo group genuinely fighting for Ndigbo, has heard reports of rape, kidnapping, illegal arrest and detention and robberies by a group of miscreants who call themselves AIYO members.

    “We decided to move into the illegal camps where even security agents could not enter and as I am talking to you, we have taken over the area and dislodged them.

    “These boys were also responsible for crimes on the Onitsha-Owerri Road and other parts of Onitsha. Several times, they had kidnapped people, including our men, took them to these “illegal torture camps”, where the victims were forced to part with money and other valuables to regain their freedom.

    “When MASSOB stormed the camp, we discovered so many people kidnapped and tied to stakes.”

    But an AIYO member, who pleaded for anonymity, accused MASSOB members of trying to dominate Igbo land, adding that AIYO was working for the government through its national leader, Rommy Ezeonwuka.

    “MASSOB, in its usual criminal way, invaded some camps of our members around 2am yesterday, wielding weapons and brutalised our members.

    “The members burnt the makeshift camp we use as our operational base.

    “They said AIYO is an illegal group but they forgot that we are the only group recognised by the Anambra State Government through our national leader, Rommy Ezeonwuka (Ogirishi Igbo),” he said.

     

  • MASSOB is sacrificing for Biafra, says Uwazuruike

    MASSOB is sacrificing for Biafra, says Uwazuruike

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra MASSOB, said yesterday that it has sacrificed itself to liberate Igbo from marginalisation.

    MASSOB leader Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, said MASSOB is suffering for Ndigbo but rather than they being appreciated, their people have kept castigating them.

    The group insisted that hoodlums and other groups committed crimes that were linked to MASSOB.

    Uwazuruike, who spoke through his Personal Assistant, Emmanuel Omenka, in Onitsha said: “Last Saturday’s sit-at-home was in commemoration of six Igbo traders killed by the police at Apo Village Abuja and those killed by the Boko Haram, those killed and dumped at Ezu River, Amansea and others killed in Northern Nigeria.

    “MASSOB sacrifices itself for Ndigbo. Igbo, you have seen that MASSOB is suffering for you. It is left for you to know if you will support MASSOB or not,” he said.

    He said soldiers allegedly killed about eight MASSOB members during the sit-at-home protest, arrested many others and whisked them to Awka, the state capital.

    According to him, MASSOB is a non-violent organisation fighting for the actualisation of a Biafran Republic.

    He however expressed optimism that one day the dream would be realised adding, “I am happy at the extent of the successful observation of the sit-at-home by the Igbo, especially traders, civil servants, students and other professionals”.

    Omenka who is also the Regional Administrator of Ogbaru, in Anambra, warned that MASSOB would not continue to keep quiet while Igbo land is desecrated by foreigners.

    He described the killing of MASSOB members last Saturday as “deliberate by soldiers working for Boko Haram.”

  • ‘Fake MASSOB members hijacked sit-at-home’

    ‘Fake MASSOB members hijacked sit-at-home’

    •Victim relives ordeal
    •30 missing, eight arrested

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday said its members did not perpetrate any crime during the sit-at-home it declared in Southeastern states.

    MASSOB’s Deputy Director of Information Mazi Chris Mocha said those who committed crimes in Anambra State were fake MASSOB members.

    Mocha said eight members were killed by soldiers; some others have been declared missing.

    He said a 14-year old boy was killed at Anyamelum Local Government Area by soldiers; three others were killed at Bridge Head Approach, Onitsha.

    The MASSOB leader said a man, Chukwuma, was arrested at Ogbunike Tollgate; another man, Innocent Okpoto, was arrested at Awka-Etiti.

    He said robbery and vandalism were carried out by fake MASSOB members in collaboration with Association of Igbo Youths Organisation (AIYO) members.

    Mocha said: “The fake MASSOB members and AIYO members set ablaze a police van.”

    A man, Herbert Opara, who is based in the US, said he was robbed by people , who claimed to be members of MASSOB.

    “It’s unbelievable that the Southeastern states would allow some groups of robbers to operate as MASSOB members.

    “I was traveling to Lagos from Owerri on June 8. At the Onitsha-Owerri Road, near Idemili Bridge Oba/Obosi, our bus was stopped and all passengers were robbed.

    “The suspects claimed they were MASSOB members and have the right to do anything in Igbo land.

    “When I pleaded with them that I am an Igbo man living in the US that they should return my briefcase, they shot into the air.

    “I stood my ground and asked them to return my documents and take the money.

    “They started to beat me, shouting Anyi egbugo ozu, meaning they have made big money.

    “One of them told me to open the bag and take my passport. I was given N10,000 to return to Lagos on the condition that I will not report to the army or police.”

    In Abia State, the group said 30 of its members are missing.

    But the police said only nine MASSOB members were arrested for allegedly carrying arms and combustible materials.

    But the leaders of the group- Solution Edward, Davidson Ohaegbu and Emmanuel Eroh- said the whereabouts of 30 of their members are still unknown.

    They said they have reported at the Ikwuano police station, the area where they were last seen.

    Police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna said six MASSOB members were arrested at the weekend in Ikwuano with cans of petrol, matches and used tyres.

    Ogbonna said the suspects were transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for investigation.

     

  • Anambra Police to charge MASSOB members to court over sit at home

    Anambra Police to charge MASSOB members to court over sit at home

    Four Members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) will soon be charged to court by the Anambra State Police Command. They were arrested at Onitsha on Saturday by the Police during the sit-at-home order by the group that claimed three lives, while five vehicles were burnt. MASSOB had declared sit-at-home in the South East, following the killing of APO six in Abuja some years back and the jail sentence passed on Emeka Ezeugo (aka Rev King). According to the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Emeka Chukwuemeka, the arrested members of the group would be taken to court soon. He said the MASSOB members would be taken to court before Thursday this week. However, MASSOB director of information, Uchenna Madu, told the Nation newspaper that the group had assembled its team of lawyers for the court case. “We are not afraid of court, our legal team has been contacted and they have taken over the matter and soon, our members will be charged to court”. He said that MASSOB had been meeting on the issue adding that the group would not seat back and allow its members being oppressed and intimidated by anybody or group. Last weekend’s sit at home, paralyzed activities in Anambra State with shops, markets and all business centre’s closed for fear of being attacked by MASSOB. But the security operatives were all over the major towns and communities in the state to thwart any danger from the group. The police team in Onitsha was led by the Police Area commander, Benjamin Wordu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), central Police Onitsha, Tope Fasugba. Also, the state was flooded with heavy presence of the Army men, the State Security Service (SSS) and Nigeria Civil Defence Security Corps (NCDSC) among others.

  • MASSOB members under fire over sit-at-home protest

    MASSOB members under fire over sit-at-home protest

    Members of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) behind last Saturday’s sit-at-home protest that was partially successful in the southeast may be in for a raw deal, it emerged yesterday.

    Anambra State Governor Peter Obi took exception to the mayhem perpetrated by some of the members, saying they would not go unpunished.

    The Police in Aba, one of the southeast commercial centres, said those arrested while trying to mobilise for the action would face prosecution.

    “Those miscreants, hooligans and touts, masquerading as MASSOB members in Anambra state, are to be dealt with,” Obi said yesterday.

    He insisted that real MASSOB members would not be extorting monies and belongings from unsuspecting members of the public and destroying hard-earned property of private individuals and the public in the name of sit- at- home.

    Obi spoke in response to the appeal by Bishop of Amichi Diocese , Nnewi South, Rt. Rev. Ephraim Ikeakor to champion a move to look into the activities of MASSOB to weed out the miscreants.

    It was during the second session of the second Synod of the Diocese at St Peters in Amichi.

    Obi assured the Bishop that his government would invite genuine MASSOB leader , Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, to dialogue and discuss the approach to be used to isolate the genuine non violent , peace-loving MASSOB members from the fake ,violent and criminal- minded miscreants parading themselves as MASSOB members.

    ‘’Education without morality is not enough and that is why my administration is investing in education and health and we are partnering the church. Before my administration came, there were touts everywhere harassing people in Onitsha.

    “We invited their leaders and you won’t believe it, their leader walked out on us at a meeting in the Governor’s office. All efforts to negotiate for peace failed and in just one night, the drivers union became history.

    ‘’For MASSOB , we will visit Chief Uwazuruike for dialogue on the best way to identify genuine MASSOB members so that we can deal mercilessly with these criminals parading themselves as members. We will deal with them as criminals because what happened in Onitsha on Saturday was unacceptable and pathetic. We will deal with this matter in our way of dealing with issues but we believe in dialogue, so we will first meet with the leadership of MASSOB and separate the true, patriotic and selfless MASSOB members in peaceful agitation for a sovereign state from those using its name for crime and related matters.” He said.

    Governor Obi added that he was reconsidering banning commercial motorcycles, “since they have allowed themselves to be used by the miscreants in the name of MASSOB.”

    Obi insisted that Ndigbo were not and still not marginalised as claimed in some quarters. He said the Igbo were marginalising themselves . He lamented that it is only in Igboland that brothers and wives arrange kidnapping of their blood relations and spouses for money. He pointed out that degree certificate does not measure integrity and quality behaviour. He appealed to Ndigbo to support President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Bishop Ikeakor who said he is a MASSOB member as everybody in the Southeast whether the person is participating in the activities of those speaking for Ndigbo in the name of MASSOB or not, lamented that violence and criminality were alien to the movement until now and appealed to Obi to convene a meeting with relevant authorities including traditional rulers to put a stop to criminality.

    ‘’Everybody is sympathetic to the MASSOB as Ndigbo because we all are MASSOB but MASSOB is not known for violence. On Saturday, MASSOB members destroyed vehicles of people going about their normal businesses, some bishops coming for our Synod were nearly lynched by people said to be MASSOB members but the MASSOB we knew is not violent. Why destroying our property when you asked for a sit- at- home and everybody complied. Why not leave those who do not want to sit- at- home to go about their normal businesses.

    ‘’There was marginalisation of Ndigbo before President Goodluck Jonathan came on board but we have not got to the state of Biafra and our property were destroyed and people nearly got lynched. How would it be when it is actualised?

    Abia State Police Commissioner Usman Tilli Abubakar said yesterday that arrested MASSOB members will be arraigned today for distributing inciting materials and threatening the peace of the state.

  • MASSOB strike claims two lives

    MASSOB strike claims two lives

    •Onitsha, Nnewi shut down

    •It’s business as usual in Enugu, Aba

     

    Yesterday’s sit-at-home strike declared by the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) turned bloody in Onitsha, leaving two members of the group dead.

    Two vehicles were also burnt, according to official figures from the police.

    However, MASSOB claimed that 10 of its members were shot dead by security agencies.

    Other sources said six persons died and five vehicles, including a fully loaded petrol tanker, were burnt.

    The incident occurred on Bida road, Oba, on the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway at about 8am.

    The MASSOB members were said to be driving around the city to enforce compliance with the sit-at-home order, when they sighted a Police Patrol team.

    They panicked and made to escape from the area.

    The driver of the MASSOB vehicle, sources said, engaged the car gear on the high speed and in the process the vehicle somersaulted, killing the occupants.

    The police said the MASSOB members had attempted to block the highway with a luxury bus and a petrol tanker as part of the strategy to stop people from moving around.

    Security agents thwarted the plan.

    Spokesman for the State Police Command, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, confirmed that only two vehicles were burnt while two MASSOB members were killed in an accident.

    He said, “We had told them that they are not a parallel government and therefore should avoid violence. They have no right to block the streets and disturb people’s movement.”

    The police also said a hand grenade and a bus snatched by MASSOB members were recovered on Bida Road.

    The police team was led by the Onitsha Area commander, Ben Wordu, and the central police divisional officer (DPO), Tope Fasugba, who mobilised over 500 police men to all the flash points in the commercial city.

    Wordu said: “Everywhere is calm and people are going about their normal businesses without any molestation. Security operatives are on top of the situation.”

    Most shops in Awka, Ekwulobia, Onitsha, Nnewi and Ihiala in Anambra State were under lock and key for the better part of the day.

    But human and vehicular movements were generally normal.

    Residents of rural areas like Nibo, Oko, Omogho, Ufuma, Ajali, Nawfija and Umunze, all in Anambra also complied with the local daily markets and shops closed.

    At Igboukwu, the market was closed and bonfire set in the middle of the Ekwulobia-Igboukwu-Ichida-Nnobi road.

    Armed policemen and other security agents were deployed to strategic parts of the cities to ensure peace and order.

    It was, however, business as usual in Enugu, Umuahia and Aba with shops and other commercial outlets operating undisturbed.

    However, a splinter group of MASSOB known as Association of Igbo Youths Movement, called for the arrest of MASSOB leaders for allegedly threatening the peace.

    The group claimed that the sit-at-home declared by MASSOB was a flop as the people failed to obey it.

    However, MASSOB director of information, Uchena Madu, differed and said it was a huge success and that nothing would make it surrender its cause and the peaceful approach.

    He claimed that five members of MASSOB where shot and killed at Oba on the Onitsha-Owerri road, while five others were shot at Bridge head and three others on Bida road in Onitsha.

    However, he said he was yet to confirm the incidents at Bridge head and Bida Road.

    He said: “We view the thousands of armed policemen, State Security Service (SSS), Civil Defence personnel patrolling the streets, roads, and the villages of Biafra as an act of cowardice.

    “They are jittery over MASSOB, influence and acceptance in Igbo land. Today, we stand to tell President Jonathan that he is so much insensitive to numerous killings of Ndigbo in Northern Nigeria; that enough is enough. Our wives and children have suddenly become emergency widows and orphans.

    “The level of compliance from Ndigbo to the sit-at-home order shows that no mountain can stop our move to freedom.”

    He also decried what he called the incessant killing of Igbo in the north by the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

    Vincent Eze, a business operator in Eke Awka, said that the people decided to comply with the MASSOB order because Nigeria has not treated Igbo well like other Nigerians.

    The sit-at-home order was a flop in Enugu.

    Businesses went on as usual with all the markets in the town opened.

    This was despite the message passed round by market criers hired by MASSOB.

    All the busy areas of the town were equally open and it was business as usual.

    Even MASSOB members who had threatened to unleash mayhem on whoever flouted the order were no-where to be found.

    A trader at the one of the major markets in Enugu, Uche Ani who spoke to our reporter, said, “the MASSOB leadership has been misleading us in the past. I, in particular, will never heed their orders again.”

    Ani queried whether “Uwazuruike will send me money to feed my family if I stay away from market today.”

    A sales girl in one of the super malls in Enugu who simply gave her name as Nneka said as long as her working place was operating, she will never observe the sit-at-home order.

    “My first allegiance is to the place that pays my salary and not MASSOB,” stressed Nneka.

    The Enugu State police spokesman, Ebere Amaraizu, said that the police would deal with trouble makers.

    The situation was not different in the commercial city of Aba, Abia State.

    The residents ignored the sit-at-home order.

    As early as 5:30 am commuters had begun to board vehicles at the popular Milverton Motor Park to their various destinations across the state and the country.

    Mr. Chike Ihechukwu, a commuter, told our reporter that “I am travelling to Port Harcourt so early to deliver these suits to a groom, his best man and the page.

    “The groom is getting married today (yesterday). I could not finish the suit yesterday (Friday). So, I have to go to Port Harcourt early enough to meet them and not because of the sit-at-home protest order from MASSOB.”

    The Ariaria International market and others were also bustling as usual.

    Mr. Kingsley Njinkeonye, a businessman said that if the sit-at-home order had been obeyed, it would have meant a breakdown of economic activities in the commercial city that is struggling to come back to life.

    Another resident, Kingsley Ibe, said for those who witnessed the Civil War “we do not want to be reminded about what we passed through during that period. Such memories are better forgotten.”

    The sit-at-home action was to protest the alleged killing of Igbo in the north by Boko Haram and the murder of the Apo Six by policemen at an Abuja police check point.

     

  • Bloody clash, protest over MASSOB’s sit-at-home call

    Bloody clash, protest over MASSOB’s sit-at-home call

    Igbo self determination group Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has split into factions following the sit- at-home order it declared for Saturday.

    The group in a statement by its Director of information Uchenna Madu urged Igbo in the southeast to observe a sit-at-home on Saturday to protest the killings of Igbo in the north and the general insecurity in the country.

    The sit-at-home is also to protest the killing of Apo six in Abuja a few years ago as well as the death sentence passed on Rev. Emeka Ezeugo (aka-Rev King).

    There was a protest march to the Anambra State House of Assembly by those opposed to the sit-at-home call.

    There was also a bloody confrontation when MASSOB members’ creating awareness for the Saturday sit-at-home, clashed with policemen.

    The clash took place at Nnobi and Awka-Etiti communities in Idemili South council Area of Anambra state.

    No fewer than 11 members of MASSOB were allegedly injured and are receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.

    Anambra Police Spokesman Emeka Chukwuemeka said the police were merely maintaining the peace.

    Chukwuemeka denied that some MASSOB members were shot at. He described the incident as minor skirmishes. He however warned that the police would not tolerate illegal activities from disbanded persons or groups like MASSOB.

    But MASSOB Deputy Director of Information, Mazi Chris Mocha accused the security operatives especially the police of killing MASSOB members fighting for the actualisation of a sovereign state of Biafra.

    Mocha said the police took away MASSOB laptop machine, N8,000 and arrested Jude Ochi, Nnamdi Ezeaka, Nelson Ugboh, Ifeanyi Eboh and others.

    Prince Ohaegbulem Jude of the Lagos state branch of MASSOB regretted that the Igbo have been marginalised, intimidated and made to be second hand citizen

    He said the sit -at- home is unstoppable.

    A former MASSOB’S second in command, Chief Rommie Ezeonwuka, insisted yesterday in Awka, that members would not allow MASSOB to be run as a private property.

    He said there was no wide consultation ahead of the sit-at-home call.

    Also yesterday, a group, the Association of Igbo Youths (AIYO), led by Annie Onyeagba, stormed the Anambra State House of Assembly with placards.

    At the assembly complex yesterday, the young men and women were singing war songs, declaring that no closure of market or sit at home will happen on June 8.

    The AIYO members said: “We want peace in Igbo land, we must love each other and be our brother’s keepers, and traders must be protected in Igbo land.

    “No more fighting, intimidation, extortion, robberies, kidnappings in Igbo lands, never can Igbo become minorities again in Nigeria, we have no other home except Igbo land”

    “Any force working against peace and securities of Igbo people shall be destroyed by Amadioha (Igbo deity)” the group said

    The group was received at the Assembly complex by Hon Emeka Aniegbonam (Onitsha South), Hon Kenechukwu Chukwuemeka (Awka South 1), Ebele Ejiofor (Anaocha 1).

    The lawmakers praised them for their maturity and being true representatives of Ndigbo and for being peaceful

    According to them “this is the kind association we need in Igbo land, a lot of people do not want peace in Igbo land and this cannot continue”

    The lawmakers assured the group that their matter would be looked into with immediate effect

    But MASSOB insists that the sit-at-home protest would go on as planned.

    Last month, MASSOB issued a statement declaring June 8, 2013 as a sit at home in Igbo land.

    Furthermore, the group declared that markets and shops would not be opened on the said date.

    The statement was signed by MASSOB’S Director of information Uchenna Madu.

    According to him, “anybody who wants to sit at home would start it in his own area and not in Anambra, we will make sure that no trader closes his shop on that day, the action is unfair to Igbo people and we can not allow it happen” Ezeonwuka said.

  • Jonathan’s perspective on OPC and MASSOB

    Jonathan’s perspective on OPC and MASSOB

    President Goodluck Jonathan has not availed the country reasons for labelling the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) as national security threats. He owes the country a full explanation. Does the label have anything to do with the antecedents of the two groups both of which are regarded in many circles as ethnic militias? Or does it have anything to do with their present dispositions? Or perhaps, it has something to do with the lackadaisical manner the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, was at first handled before it snowballed into a full terrorist group. Whatever the considerations were, the country will be puzzled that the president has suddenly considered the OPC and MASSOB security threats almost at par with Boko Haram, the Islamist sect against which a full blown military engagement is underway.

    During the presentation of the mid-term report of his administration in Abuja on Democracy Day last week, the president suggested that, “Nigeria faces three fundamental security challenges posed by extremist groups like Boko Haram in the North; the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra in the South-East; and the Oodua People’s Congress in the Southwest.” If this is not strong stuff, then consider his next statement. “The activities of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and OPC,” he added tersely, “though not as violently intense as those of Boko Haram, they still pose a serious security challenge to the Nigerian state.” It was expected that the president would say something major on the security challenges facing the country, but no one thought he would make such sweeping statements that are capable of boxing his administration in?

    Except the OPC is a sleeper cell of militants, there is nothing to show that in the past few years, it is an active militia able and willing to levy war against the state on the scale or even half the scale of the Boko Haram sect. In fact more than anything else, the OPC has become both a cultural organisation and security consultants to troubled and harassed neighbourhoods insufficiently serviced by the regular law enforcement agencies. Its leaders are not only known, they have also bidden for federal government’s lucrative pipeline security contracts, especially pipeline protection and surveillance jobs. In addition, their leaders are increasingly at the forefront of cultural activities, particularly those with tourism potentials.

    MASSOB’s leaders are known, and their offices are not hidden. They send out periodic press releases, grant interviews with their photographs emblazoned all over newspaper pages, and have advanced reasons for the Igbo to receive equitable share of national resources or, failing that, to enter into either a confederal arrangement with the rest of the country or outright autonomy and independence. They have advocated these causes openly through public channels. Admittedly, their advocacy has sometimes been accompanied by violence, but often they have been provoked by or resulted from a misunderstanding with law enforcement agents. In any case, because their members and leaders are known and their grievances understandable, if not legitimate, the state has a responsibility to engage them within the confines of the law. It will be counterproductive to radicalise them.

    This is, however, not to say there are no fringe elements within both groups, just as there are fringe elements acting more dangerously and independently in other areas of national life. Indeed, this column had in the past worried that the elite in both the Southwest and Southeast had engaged in unregulated romance with ethnic militias, a habit it concluded amounted to an abdication of the reasoned leadership they should give conservative and radical elements within their regions. However, it amounts to a hasty and extreme measure to label the two groups as security threats before engaging them in discussions and monitoring their activities to establish a pattern of constitutional subversion. It must be recalled that the federal government also failed to engage Boko Haram until it gradually metamorphosed into a terror group after its leaders were extrajudicially murdered. The same mistake must not be repeated.

    By summarily describing the OPC and MASSOB as security threats, the president will face intense criticisms from puzzled citizens. He will also endure unflattering comparisons between his kind consideration of Niger Delta militants to whom placatory mouth-watering contracts have been given and the heavy-handedness with which he seems prepared to deal with the considerably tame and ostensible militias from other parts of the country.

     

  • MASSOB: release our member

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has threatened a show down with security operatives, if its regional leader for Awka North, Tony Nwodo, is not released.

    MASSOB spoke yesterday in Awka, through its National Director of Information, Uchenna Madu.

    The group alleged that security operatives arrested Nwodo last Tuesday, following the allegation that he claimed to be governor of Anambra State.

    “If they want people who are causing problems and confusion in this country, they should turn their focus on Boko Haram and other criminals and not (MASSOB), we are a non-violent group.

    “The arrest of one of our leaders has created artificial tension in this state. Nobody should blame MASSOB for any breakdown of law and order.

    “Everybody knows that Anambra State has only one governor and that is Mr. Peter Obi and what (MASSOB) has is regional administrators such as Nwodo.

    “Let me repeat again, MASSOB is a non-violent group, but if Nwodo is not released in 48 hours, MASSOB should not be blamed for its action.”

     

  • MASSOB moves protests to Ughelli, Ikom, Ogoja

    MASSOB moves protests to Ughelli, Ikom, Ogoja

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said it is planning a protest against the dislodgement of the Bakassi indigenes and the Odi massacre.

    A statement issued yesterday by MASSOB’s regional administrators in Ughelli, Delta State, Chief Allwell Nwokoneme and in Ikom/Ogoja, Chief Samuel Okah, said the sit-at-home declared by the group, which will hold on June 8, is sacrosanct.

    The MASSOB leaders, who issued the statement to reporters in Awka, urged Ogoja, Ikom and Ughelli indigenes to support the group as the fight is a collective one.

    The statement reads: “This struggle for freedom is not for Ndigbo alone, it cuts across board. MASSOB is a movement for like minds, who are fighting without any weapon.

    “MASSOB is disturbed by the Odi massacre and the dislodgement of the Bakassi people. We can not fold our arms and allow our people to suffer. The fight must continue.”

    The group said the murder of six innocent Igbo in Apo, Abuja extra-judicially on June 8, 2005 by policemen led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Danjuma, still hurts them. It alleged that the police officer now walks the streets a freeman. A judicial commission of enquiry headed by Justice Olasumbo Goodluck had exonerated the APO six victims from the armed robbery charges levelled against them.

    “The APO six killing is one of the numerous killings of Ndigbo in Nigeria that have gone with little or no consequence. It is a result of the insecurity in the land,” MASSOB said.