THE RESTORATION OF BIAFRA NATION

  The American Veterans of Igbo Descent, AVID, in collaboration with Rising Sun Charities Organization and Ambassadors for Self-Determination,  has petitioned the U.S. President Donald Trump to impose Global Magnitsky sanctions on a number of Nigerian judges and former Attorney General Abubakar Malami over their alleged roles in the detention and prosecution of Biafra agitator, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu In a letter addressed to the president on Friday,  a copy of which was made available to journalists in Abuja, the groups accused the Nigerian judiciary of “gross violations of human rights” and complicity in what they described as the unlawful persecution of Kanu, who has been in detention since his extraordinary rendition from Kenya in June 2021. The petition specifically listed Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, Justice Hamma Akawu Barka, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, former Chief Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, and former Attorney General Malami as those wh...

  The deaths of more than a million people in Nigeria as a result of the brutal civil war which ended exactly 50 years ago are a scar on the nation's history. Image sourc For most Nigerians, the war O the breakaway state of Biafra is generally regarded as an unfortunate episode best forgotten, but for the Igbo people who fought for secession, it remains a life-defining event. In 1967, following two coups and turmoil which led to about a million Igbos returning to the south-east of Nigeria, the Republic of Biafra seceded with 33-year-old military officer Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu at the helm. The Nigerian government declared war and after 30 months of fighting, Biafra surrendered. On 15 January 1970, the conflict officially ended. The government's policy of "no victor, no vanquished" may have led to a lack of official reflection, but many Nigerians of Igbo origin grew up on stories from people who lived through the war. Three of those who were involved in the secessionist ...