Ihuoma Chiedozie, Enugu
The Movement for the Actualisation of
the Sovereign State of Biafra on Monday replied the leaders of the
South-East chapter of the All Progressives Congress, who advised
pro-Biafra groups in the zone to forget the struggle for the secession
of Biafra.
MASSOB said it would not abandon the
struggle. It urged the Igbo and the members of the other ethnic
nationalities in the South-East to disregard the advice of the Igbo APC
chieftains.
In a communiqué issued after a meeting
in Enugu on Friday, the leaders of the South-East zone of the APC urged
MASSOB and other pro-Biafra groups to have a ‘rethink’ and give up the
struggle for the actualisation of an independent state of Biafra.
“We call on all the groups agitating for
separation from Nigeria, particularly the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra
and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra
to rethink and abandon the idea, and join other ethnic groups in
building a formidable Nigeria where all Nigerians will be equally
treated in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria,” the South-East APC leaders said in the communiqué.
Notable Igbo politicians at the
South-East APC meeting, where the pro-Biafra groups were advised to
forget the struggle, included the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr.
Chris Ngige; a former Governor of the old Anambra State, Chief Jim
Nwobodo; a former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu;
and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Agunwa Anakwe.
Others were senators Emma Agboti, Chris
Adighije, Nkechi Nwogu, Ifeanyi Ararume, Nweke Gbazuagu, a former Imo
State House of Assembly Speaker, Benjamin Uwajumogu; Osita Izunaso,
George Muoghalu, and Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu.
Reacting, MASSOB, which spoke through
its National Director of Information, Samuel Edeson, said the South-East
APC leaders were only after their personal interests.
“MASSOB wishes to reply the South-East
APC over the call on MASSOB/IPOB to abandon the idea of agitating for
the independence of Biafra and to join them in building Nigeria.
“MASSOB is calling on the Ndigbo and all
‘Biafrans’ to disregard these Abuja politicians who have no conscience.
All they are interested in are their personal interests,” Edeson said.
MASSOB wondered why the politicians had not spoken out against the murderous activities of Fulani herdsmen in the South-East.
Edeson alleged that most of the
South-East APC leaders ‘did not do anything for the Igbos’ while they
held key federal positions in previous administrations under the Peoples
Democratic Party.
“None of them can beat his chest boldly
and say that this is what I have done for the Ndigbo. While calling
MASSOB and IPOB to drop the Biafra agenda, they left Fulani herdsmen
that have been killing our people, raping our women and destroying our
farmland at will.
“We will no longer allow these Abuja
politicians to come to Igboland and deceive our people in the name of
fighting for Igbo presidency. None of these men who claimed to be
heavyweight politicians has ever challenged the evil done to our people.
“The Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, the
Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, all the federal roads and railway lines
in the South-East are deathtraps.
“They have never for one day spoken
against the abandoned projects in Igboland. They have now run to APC
where their sins will be covered,” Edeson added.
The MASSOB spokesman also alleged that
the Department of State Services was being used against the critics of
the Federal Government.
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