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Tag: MASSOB

  • Operation not targeted at IPOB, MASSOB, says army

    Operation not targeted at IPOB, MASSOB, says army

    THE Nigerian military yesterday said that its exercise python dance is not targeted at the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization for Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) as being speculated. In a statement made available to newsmen yesterday in Awka and signed by the Deputy Director Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Colonel Sagir Musa, the army said the fear being expressed by some people about the development was unfounded.

    Musa said that similar operations had earlier been launched in other parts of the country. He added that the exercise was launched based on recent security challenges, not only in Igbo land, but the entire country.

    The statement from the army read in part: “Exercise PYTHON DANCE is not targeted at any individual or group of people. “It is purely a Command Post and Field Training Exercises, as a way of enhancing troops preparedness across spectrum of contemporary security challenges peculiar to the South East Region. “For emphasis and clarity, Exercise PYTHON DANCE is not targeted at MOSSOB/IPOB or any individual or group”

    “It is only a Field Training Exercise that is designed to where necessary dovetail into real time activities, such as anti-kidnapping drills, patrols, raids, cordon and search, check points, road locks and show of force.

    “This is with the aim of checkmating anticipated rising wave of crimes usually prevalent during the Yuletide period. “Recall that similar exercises were successfully conducted in different regions of Nigeria. For instance, Ex SHIRIN HARBI was conducted from 17 – 19 April 2016 in 3 Division Area of Responsibility (AOR) to take care of the insurgency, cattle rustling and other Sunday crimes in the North East region.

    Similarly, Ex HARBIN KUNAMA was held in 1 Division AOR from 9 – 15 July 2016 to rid the North West region of banditry, insurgency and Cattle rustling among other menaces. “Also, Ex CROCODILE SMILE was conducted from 5 – 10 September 2016 in the Niger Delta region with an overarching aim of reducing incidences of illegal bunkering, oil theft, sea piracy and other peculiar criminalities across the entire region.

    These exercises were in all standards successful.” The statement also said that “In the same vein, Ex PYTHON DANCE has been planned for the South East region from 27 November – 27 December 2016.

    The prevalent security issues, such as armed robbery, banditry, kidnappings, herdsmen – farmers clashes, communal clashes and violent secessionist attacks among other security threats in the Region would be targeted.” It enjoined members of the public to disregard the unfounded fear and allegations orchestrated by ill-meaning individuals and groups that the exercise is ‘ a plot to kill IPOB members. “This assertion is not only insidious and mischievous, but is also devious and bunkum and should be disregarded please,” the statement read.

  • Falana to Fed Govt: probe MASSOB, IPOB members’ killings

    Falana to Fed Govt: probe MASSOB, IPOB members’ killings

    Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a panel of enquiry to investigate the killing of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members.

    The lawyer advised the government to extend the scope of such panel to include what he called “the scores of the Shiites killed by the army and the police” in the North.

    He said this became imperative because of the admission of the Army that it killed five protesters, instead of the 150 alleged by Amnesty International (AI).

    Falana expressed worry over the killings in a paper, titled: War Against Corruption – Issues and Challenges Confronting the Judiciary, he delivered at this year’s Law Week of the Jos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at Hill Station Hotel, Jos, the Plateau State capital.

    The frontline lawyer was reacting to last week’s AI report on the alleged killing of 150 members of IPOB by the Army.

    But the Army has denied the report.

    Falana berated the Army for joining issues with the global human rights wartchdog.

    He reminded the Army that it issued a statement on May 31, this year, where it said: “…In the aftermath of the fire fight that ensued, many of own troops sustained varying degrees of injury. These injured troops are currently receiving treatment at own medical centre.

    “Similarly, five members of MASSOB/IPOB were killed, eight injured while none was arrested for due legal actions.”

    Falana noted that contrary to the Army’s claims, a judicial commission of enquiry set up by the Kaduna State Government established that 347 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (ISN) were killed by the Army last December for allegedly blocking a road in Zaria, Kaduna State, during a religious convention.

    The eminent lawyer also recalled that the peaceful protests to demand the release of the leader of the movement, Sheik Ibraheem Elzakzaky, and his wife from what he called illegal incarceration by the State Security Service (SSS) was violently suppressed under the pretext that the religious group had been banned.

    He said such a ban was without any court order.

    According to him, the armed soldiers who engaged in the killings have not been charged to any criminal court.

    Falana said: “It is curious to note that neither the national leadership of the NBA nor any of its 109 branches has deemed it fit to condemn the crimes against humanity committed by the Army and the worsening human rights record of the Federal Government. But the NBA reacted angrily to the nocturnal raid of the homes of seven judges who were arrested for alleged corrupt practices last month by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS).

    “However, while not supporting the harassment of the judges, I did not hesitate in condemning the NBA for engaging in hypocrisy by limiting the defence of human rights to the senior members of the legal profession. Since this is a body of lawyers, I wish to state, without any fear of contradiction, that the Department of State Security (DSS) is not a juristic personality, as it is unknown to law. So, if you sue the DSS instead of the State Security Service (SSS)in any of the courts, the case will be struck by virtue of the Nigeria Security Agencies Act (Cap N74), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    “More importantly, as statutory defenders of the rule of law and human rights, the NBA ought to mobilise its members to stop the liquidation of any group of agitators in the country.

    “The government is at liberty to charge any citizen or group of people to court, if it has evidence of their involvement in treasonable conduct or any form of criminality.”

     

  • MASSOB to Igbo leaders: get Kanu, others out of detention

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said it will begin “a native internal revolution against Igbo leaders” if they fail to secure the release of Radio Biafra’s director Nnamdi Kanu and other Biafran activists in detention. The movement was reacting to the visit of Southeast senators to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    A statement by Innocent Igbo, the Personal Assistant on Media and Publicity to MASSOB leader, Uchenna Madu, said the organisation “wishes to reveal the very reason Igbo senators, led by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Igbo caucus leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, visited President Buhari concerning the political, economic and infrastructural decay in Ndigbo land in Nigeria, including the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other pro-Biafra agitators in Nigerian prisons”.

    It added: “This sudden political move of Igbo senators to President Buhari is a welcome development, even though President Buhari may not easily hearken to their pleas because of his anti-Igbo policies.”

    MASSOB claimed that “Igbo senators suddenly woke up because of our leader’s ultimatum during the celebration of 83rd posthumous birthday of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (Eze Igbo Gburugburu) at MASSOB headquarters at Okwe on November 4 that if Igbo political, religious, traditional, economical and opinion leaders fail to rise up against the oppressions, subjections and anti-Igbo policies of President Buhari against Ndigbo and Igbo land, including the bias detention of our brother,

  • IPOB, MASSOB sit-at-home protest flops in Enugu, Owerri, Awka, Abakaliki

    • Protest a success –MASSOB, IPOB

    This could not have been the way the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) wanted their stay-at-home protest to unfold yesterday.

    Across much of the Southeast states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, as well as the  Igbo speaking areas of Delta State, the protest was anything, but the massive shut down called by the two groups to press home their demand for the release of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu from detention.

    Residents in the affected states defied the stay at home order and went about their business.

    Markets opened for buying and selling and vehicular movement went un-hindered.

    Only in Onitsha was the boycott partially observed.

    The main market and other markets in the commercial city were shut for fear of harassment by hoodlums but  some banks were opened .

    Vehicular movement was light in the city, with security operatives patrolling the streets to forestall any break down of law and order.

    Soldiers were at the two ends of the Niger Bridge which is a vital link between the Southeast and much of the country.

    Social and economic activities were in full swing in Awka, the state capital all day although some commercial vehicle operators stayed off the roads for fear of molestation by thugs.

    In Nnewi, many traders adopted a wait and see attitude and by 11am began to troop out to open their shops for business.

    The state police command had, on Thursday, warned parents against allowing their children to be used by anyone to breach the peace of the state.

    Armed security personnel were visible in strategic places which gave the generality of the people confidence to shun the protest.

    The Ebonyi State Police Command tightened security within Abakaliki metropolis and environs to ensure peace.

    Spokesman of the command, DSP George Okafor said he personally  went to all the major markets in the state to ensure that traders went  about their normal businesses without molestation or apprehension.

    Speaking by phone, he said: “I am at the Abakpa main market now with my cameraman who is taking pictures of the shops.

    “I want to tell you that economic activities are at their  best.  There is no sign of protest. “Everywhere is calm and peaceful. We will continue to mount surveillance in all the major markets to ensure that there’s orderliness everywhere.

    “We are not leaving anything to chance.”

    Asaba, the Delta State capital and environs, were calm all day.

    Armed policemen patrolled the metropolis between 8am and 12 noon.

    An armoured carrier, 12 Hilux patrol pick-ups were stationed at the Onitsha head bridge,  while other armed mobile and regular policemen were seen patrolling the major streets.

    Other law enforcement agents were stationed at strategic junctions to maintain law and order.

    Government offices, banks, schools (public and private), markets and other business premises opened for normal businesses.

    Some shops at Ogbogonogo market were, however, shut.

    Traffic was also light on the ever busy Benin/Onitsha expressway, Nnebisi road, Summit road, Traffic Light, Cable Point and other major streets.

    Some parents who were afraid of the unknown, stopped their children and wards from going to school.

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Celestina Kalu, said the command deployed 500 policemen to keep peace in the town.

    But MASSOB leader, Uchenna Madu, branded the protest a success and hailed ‘Biafrans’ for “complying and adhering to our National demands, our calls and demand for a civil disobedience against Nigeria state.”

    MASSOB, he added, “gladly salutes the people of Biafra for their love, confidence and trust bestowed on IPOB, MASSOB and other Biafra agitating groups, the effect of today’s civil disobedience further proved that MASSOB and  IPOB are major factors to be reckoned with in the affairs of Ndigbo and Nigeria in general.

    “MASSOB demands for the immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi KANU, Benjamin Onwuka, Chidiebere Onwudiwe and other detained pro Biafra agitators in Nigerian prisons mostly in Onitsha and Awka.

    “The more these Biafran Jews are detained, the more Nigeria will continue to experience economic, political and diplomatic phenomenon that always cripples her system of existence.

    “We see the heavy downpour that crippled scanty activities in Onitsha as a divine intervention and endorsement by Chukwu Okike Abiama (God of Abraham).”

    In separate statement, the  Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Mr Emma Powerful, congratulated ‘Biafrans’ and all the people who showed solidarity by obeying the sit at home protest which, according to him, “took place in all the continents of the world, countries in Europe ,America, South America, Australia, some Asian and other African countries.”

    He listed the countries where IPOB members observed the protest as USA, Brazil, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Japan, Israel, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Spain, Italy, UK, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Mexico, Malaysia, UAE, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Egypt, Gabon, Togo, Kenya, Australia, Sweden Denmark, and China, and other countries too numerous to mention.”

    He added: “we thank the general public for observing the day with us, injustice can no more be encouraged, for showing us this kind of solidarity with the quest for the restoration of Biafra,. We are most grateful, this is an assurance that people are in agreement with our zero tolerance for intimidation and harassment.”

    However, the Ralph Uwazuruike-led Biafra Independence Movement (BIM) was not part of the protest having asked its supporter to go about their lawful businesses.

    It daubed the IPOB order selfish and ill timed.

    “Giving such an order in the face of the current economic hardship inflicted on Ndigbo by the Nigerian government, will cause more harm than good,” it said.

    BIM said it was senseless to ask Ndigbo to stay away from their means of livelihood and debunked IPOB’s claim that it fully discussed with various Igbo groups before handing down the stay at home order.

    “BIM was never consulted and we would never have consented to such a sudden order by IPOB,” it said

  • Anglican Primate begs MASSOB, IPOB to shift protest

    Anglican Primate begs MASSOB, IPOB to shift protest

    PRIMATE of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Rev. Nicholas Okoh, yesterday, begged the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Anambra State to allow the church complete its programme before their sit-at-home order.

    The two groups, last Sunday, issued a statement that markets, banks, motorists and others should close on Friday (tomorrow) for a protest againt the continued detention of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

    But the order coincided with the church’s Standing Committees’ five-day meeting in Awka, the state capital.

    Okoh said the groups should shelve their plan until the end of its programmes at St. Faith Cathedral Church tomorrow.

    The cleric noted that there will be no other exit root from Anambra, except the head bridge in Onitsha.

    He urged Governor Willie Obiano to beg IPOB and MASSOB to shift their order.

    Okoh hailed Obiano for prompt payment of workers’ salaries, and ensuring religious harmony in the state.

    The cleric noted that the governor had stemmed religious uprising, which he said hitherto caused tension across the state.

    He said: “IPOB and MASSOB threaten to shut down markets and other institutions as well as restrict movement in the Southeast, as we read in newspapers.

    “We are not against whatever their agitation is, but we ask them to wait until we leave Awka on Friday. If they carry out that order, we may be trapped in Anambra, as the Niger Bridge is the only entrance to Anambra State. So, help us beg them to allow us to go.”

    Okoh congratulated Obiano on the state’s 25th anniversary.

    The primate expressed satisfaction that the bond between the church and the government will be stronger.

    He said: “On behalf of the Church of Nigeria, I thank you because you always identify with us. The religious climate in Anambra is now tension–free.

    “On appointments, you don’t discriminate, and we are grateful to you. We heard you are the only governor that pays salaries. Please, don’t relent. Continue to pay salaries. The church depends on the generosity of members for execution of its projects.”

  • No going back on Biafra’s Independence – MASSOB

    The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) on Tuesday said the independence of Eastern Nigeria was not negotiable, insisting that the lives of their people were being threatened.

    MASSOB at a press conference held in Lagos to commemorate its 17th anniversary of non-violent agitation, urged the United Nations and other world leaders to grant the region sovereignty.

    Citing a report allegedly released by the UN in Awka, Anambra State, some weeks ago, MASSOB claimed that the Nigerian government has marked some people for elimination, adding that the country was deeply divided along ethnic, religious and regional lines.

    Addressing reporters and MASSOB members, a regional leader, Calistus Eze, accused the government of plots to exterminate Biafra.

    He said: “Our people are being killed and farms destroyed by the Nigerian Armed Forces and herdsmen on daily basis. We can no longer live with the people where our security, justice and freedom are not guaranteed. We declare that on the independence of Biafra we stand and nothing else.”

    The group also debunked rumours that its leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, has abandoned them after collecting money from the government, insisting that Uwazurike would never betray Biafra.

     

  • Civil war didn’t heal Igbo wounds, says MASSOB

    Civil war didn’t heal Igbo wounds, says MASSOB

    The Movement for the Actualisation Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said the Civil War did not solve the nation’s problems.

    The group said the war was fought because of alleged marginalisation, massacre, inequality and injustice to the Igbo nation.

    MASSOB, which is preparing to celebrate its 17th anniversary, said the three-year war did not address the issues bedevilling the country, even several after the war ended.

    Addressing reporters in Umuahia, the state capital, MASSOB-BIM Zonal Information Director Anselm Ogbonna said the movement would continue with its non-violent posture until its objective was actualised.

    Ogbonna said: ”May 30, 1967 (Biafra declaration date) and September 13, 1999 (Biafra resuscitation date through nonviolence, non-exodus struggle) are the two major dates which are very vital in the history of Biafra.

    “After the declarations of ‘no victor, no vanquish’ by (the then Head of State) General Yakubu Gowon on January 1, 1970, Biafra and Nigeria began existing as a nation under one Nigeria. Still, those problems of marginalisation, unprovoked massacre, inequality, injustice, among others, are still strong against the Ndigbo in Nigeria.

    “This struggle will be 17 years on September 13. MASSOB wishes to celebrate the 17th year anniversary of its existence through non-violence.

    “MASSOB wants to use the anniversary to tell the world that we are the Biafra drum beaters. We are the beams that produce the light for others to follow.

    “We are not MASSOB on the Internet or on the pages of newspapers.

    “Other splinter groups emanated from us because before September 13, 1999, no other person or group from the Southeast or Southsouth was talking about Biafra. We want to show the world that we have maintained our non-violence, non-exodus agreement.

    “We want to show people that the September 13, 1999 agreement with the United Nation (UN) guaranteed us to speak from our various regional and zonal offices rather than from a hideout. September 13 had warranted us to speak for our freedom from Nigeria.”

    Ogbonna said the agreement prompted Chief Ralph Uwazuruike to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UN at its secretariat in New York on September 13, 1999, that he would actualise Biafra through non-violence, non-exodus through MASSOB.

    He said: “Uwazuruike single-handedly formed MASSOB and started the crusade to actualise Biafra through non-violence and non-exodus. But politicians misinterpreted him and called him all sorts of negative name.

    “They persecuted him to see if he could derail from his non-violence agenda. Still, Uwazuruike wasn’t derailed. Even amidst his persecutions, he achieved events that shocked his persecutors.

    “These included the relocation of the wounded and abandoned Biafra soldiers from Oji River to Onuimo and the preparation of tombs for Biafra’s fallen heroes.

    “He equally immortalised the Biafra people’s General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in Owerri, Imo State, with the Ojukwu Memorial Library, among others.”

    Ogbonna added that MASSOB under Uwazuruike built structures, which indicated that he was determined to actualise Biafra.

  • Ohanaeze, MASSOB hail Buhari, AGF for releasing Biafra activists

    Ohanaeze, MASSOB hail Buhari, AGF for releasing Biafra activists

    Following the release of 19 members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who were detained in Aba Prisons, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, for the gesture.

    It will be recalled that about twenty members of IPOB were reportedly arrested in Aba by soldiers of the 144 Battalion, Asa, Ukwa West Local Government of the state after they clashed with soldiers during a prayer session at National High School along Port Harcourt road.

    The IPOB members; six females and thirteen males, were released by a Magistrate Court in Umuahia, the State capital on Thursday following the directive of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, that they be released.

    In a statement signed by the chairman of states’ chairman, Mazi Alex Okemiri, the group also praised Abia State governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu for facilitating their activists’ release.

    The statement reads in part: “We hereby salute Mr President, the Attorney General of the Federation and Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state for facilitating the release of the pro-Biafran activists arrested and detained during their prayer session at Aba some months ago.

    “This commendable action will go a long way to douse the tension and bad blood generated by their detention. We equally urge Mr President to release other MASSOB and IPOB detainees including the leader of IPOB Nnamdi Kanu.

    “This will pave the way for dialogue, which remains the only way to solve the agitation. We commend Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for the role he also played in the release. He has endeared himself to Ndigbo for pursuing the reduction of tension in the South East.”

    The group also called on various groups in the South-east to stop creating unnecessary tension in Abia State.

    “The warning is sequel to a media interview by one? Igwekala Leo Ugomaduefule, the National President of a group known as Ndigbo Bu- Otu, where he asked the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu to resign.

    “Abia, a state in Igbo land should not be a testing ground for lawlessness. Nigeria is not a Banana Republic ?and the South-East should not be used for such experiment.

    “We are amazed that a group suddenly emerged and started talking about the Abia stalemate. There are other issues affecting Ndigbo such as the detention of Nnamdi Kanu, need for restructuring and true federalism but this faceless group never talked about it.

     “The OYC is warning this group to desist from stoking ember of confusion in Igbo land. We have already declared the self-styled members of the above group persona-non-grata and we expect the general public to treat them as such.”

    The OYC further urged the feuding parties in the Abia governorship tussle to utilize all the legal windows open to them, stressing “any attempt to forcefully remove Governor Okezie Ikpeazu will be vehemently resisted by Ndigbo.

    “Our advice to Uche Ogah is to toe that path of peace and stop allowing outsiders to use him in creating a situation of confusion in Igbo land. What we are experiencing right now cannot happen elsewhere and for that we say unequivocal no to it.”

    Speaking in the same vein, the leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Uchenna Madu described the release of the pro-Biafra members as laudable.

     Madu said that the continued harassment and illegal detention of the MASSOB, BIM, IPOB and other pro-Biafra groups would not deter them from pushing for the emancipation of Biafra, which according to him, is a legacy bequeathed to them by the founding fathers and which must be actualized.

    The MASSOB leader also used the opportunity to urge the Federal Government to release other Biafra agitators, including the leader of the IPOB and Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, Benjamin Onwuka and other BIM leaders and members who are currently incarcerated in various prisons across the country.”

  • Kanu can’t renounce Biafra, says MASSOB

    Kanu can’t renounce Biafra, says MASSOB

    Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu cannot renounce his group’s demand for an independent state of Biafra, Movement for the Actualisation of the Soverign State of Biafra (MASSOB) said yesterday.

    A progress report on the dialogue between the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) and agents of the Federal Government, at the weekend, said an arrangement was being worked out for Kanu’s release from prison custody by the Federal Government if he renounced his Baifra agitation.

    Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari  said the government through some oil companies and traditional rulers had been talking to the militants to end their agitation and bombing of oil facilities in the Niger Delta.

    But Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu could not confirm MEND’s weekend claim. Shehu said the government had not received the report of the talks from those it authorised to discuss with MEND.

    MASSOB leader Uchenna Madu, in a statement yesterday, described the condition as “laughable and inconsequential.”

    The statement said: “MASSOB does not see Mazi Nnamdi Kanu  as one who can betray his belief on Biafra, he is not a sellout, his ideologies on Biafra may differ, he can never betray hundreds of Biafrans that died recently on the course of Biafra.

    “Secondly, Biafra is not a religious faith that can be renounced or abandoned. Nobody can renounce Biafra, it is an identity, culture, tradition and existence of group of nationalities, it’s not personal or individualistic.

    “There are thousands of Biafranistic persons more determined, consistent, dangerous, focused, unshakable than Nnamdi KANU, Uchenna Madu and other leading figures in the Biafra struggle.

    “Biafra is also bigger than all the leading figures put together.

    It is childish on Federal government to expect Nnamdi Kanu to renounce Biafra, the fate of over fifty million people.

    “MASSOB advises Buhari to save his battered Nigeria’s face from more diplomatic shame by allowing the court to grant Nnamdi Kanu and others bail.

    “We shall continue to press for their release including the ultimate aim of Biafra actualization with non-violence. Nigeria will soon experience another dimension of non-violence struggle that will marvel it.  Soon the world will celebrate the downfall of the most corrupt country.”

    But the Ijaw Youth Council said it is still studying the reported MEND /federal government agreement.

    IYC Spokesman Eric Omare told our reporter in a telephone conversation in Warri last night that the federal government was yet to confirm the veracity of the claims, since it was a party in the said-agreement.

    “We are still watching the development unfold, we will wait till sometime during the week before we speak on the matter.

    “The federal government has not even reacted or confirm the said-agreement so we will study the situation before we talk”, Omare said.

  • MASSOB denies support for Avengers

    MASSOB denies support for Avengers

    Members of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) (a.k.a BIM), Rivers -South Zone, have condemned the incessant destruction of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta by the new militants group, The Avengers.

    They also denied a newspaper report (not The Nation) credited to an ex-member of the group, Uchenna Madu, that MASSOB is one of the supporters of the Avengers.

    In a statement in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by the Zonal Leader, Mr. Sunday Kalu Amuzie, described Madu’s claim as bogus, malicious and baseless.

    Signed by the  Zone’s Director for Information, Mrs Divine Mercy Adiele, Amuzie’s statement alleged that Madu is no longer a member of MASSOB having been expelled two years ago for misconduct. He no longer participates in the activities of MASSOB and, as result, lacks the knowledge of what the group is doing, Amuzie said.

    The Zonal leader insisted that MASSOB is a non-violent group, led by a responsible and law abiding patriot, Raph Uwazurike, a lawyer, who does not wish and would not want to win his campaign for an independent state of Biafra through any violence means.”

    He urged the public to disregard Madu’s statement.

    He said: “MASSOB has no hand in any form of violence and remains committed to non-violence agitation, which we are known for.

    “Mr. Madu was expelled from MASSOB in 2014 for misconduct and has since then stopped attending MASSOB meetings and gatherings, meaning that he no longer participate in the activities of MASSOB and therefore do not know what is going on in MASSOB.

    “Instead his statement published on The Sun newspaper recently that he and his accomplice are working hand- in-hand with the Avengers, gave him away, confirmed that he is part and parcel of the Avenger group and supports their activities.

    “MASSOB is a responsible and none violent group, being led by a responsible and peaceful person, is peacefully seeking for an Independent and Sovereign state, does not support violence and as a result does not support the activities of the Avengers, and the wanton  destruction of properties, especially the oil pipelines. We condemn it in its entirety and will not support destruction.

    “We therefore call on our members in Rivers State and all Biafrans across the world, to remain loyal, committed and firm with the vision of our Leader, Dr. Raph Uwazurike, in his efforts to actualise Biafra on a non-violent approach.”