Biafra groups make u-turn, back Abia, Ebonyi governors

 
The statement made available to BIAFRA was signed by Comrade Emeka Ibekwe for (Biafra Independence organization), Comrade Philip Umenna (Igbo Revolutionary Movement) and Comrade Sunday James Achu for the Eastern People Renewal.  Three pro-Biafra groups, the Biafra Independence Organization, the Igbo Revolutionary Movement and the Eastern People Renewal have backtracked on the earlier decision of some Igbo groups not to participate in the 2019 election.
The groups made their latest position in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday, where they took swipes at some Igbo leaders, who they said were not doing enough for the people.
They said it was regrettable that some Igbo leaders, who have the opportunities of bringing development to Igbo land, declined to do so owing to selfishness and inferiority complex.
“Many so-called Igbo leaders have occupied many high government positions and appointments; many served as elected governors, state and national assembly members; they are no longer remembered today because there was nothing to show that they once occupied such lofty positions.
“We, however, commend some leaders who are steadfast and eloquent in pursuit of justice and political emancipation of Ndigbo.
“We seize this opportunity to declare our infinite resolve to participate in the coming general election in 2019; we shall participate in supporting, canvassing and voting for a credible Biafran person irrespective of political party or platform.
“We need our people-oriented persons with true Igbo trademark to occupy all elective positions both in Igbo land and Abuja.
“The people of Biafra are tired of Hausa Fulani’s stooges that are representing our people. We shall also support some Igbo governors and national assembly members who are doing well in infrastructural development, economic/ social stabilization, youth and women empowerment through rural/ community development.
“Governors that are positively touching the lives of our people through health care and hospital equipment will also have our support,” they said.
The coalition said it has resolved to support “the continuity of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and Dave Umahi of Abia and Ebonyi States.
“We are moved to declare our open support to them because of their ingenuity and robustness in infrastructural developments, health care and social welfare of their respective states.
“Today Ndigbo can be proud of Aba (Enyimba City) and Abakiliki on the sudden transformational outlook of the two cities of Igbo land.
“Aba has suddenly bounced back to her ancient glory of commercial engine room of Igbo land; even Abakiliki that was a forgotten city has bounced back to a modern city.
“We encouraged the citizens and residents of Abia and Ebonyi states to return back Gov Okezie Ikpeazu and Dave Umahi for continuous development of Igbo land.”

IPOB:Nnamdi Kanu’s brother, Emmanuel, reveals who allegedly kidnapped, sold IPOB leader to military

According to him, this time around, Uwazuruike has succeeded in selling the pro-Biafra leader to the Nigerian Government and its security forces, adding that there will be no reconciliation between the two if Nnamdi Kanu finally comes out.
He said, “Well, if the Nigerian army will release Nnamdi Kanu from where they kept him, I don’t see any reconciliation coming because Uwazuruike is a saboteur; he sold my brother to the Federal Government.
“He had a hand in the military raid of our country home because he collected huge sum of money by the Federal Government for that purpose.
“Uwazuruike always has evil intention; that was why he kidnapped my brother in 2009 and I gave him 24 hours to release him and after releasing him, he invited the DSS to arrest my brother at the Ojukwu Bunker which they did, all in an effort to ensure he was eliminated.  
Prince Emmanuel Kanu, the younger brother of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has alleged that leader of the Biafra Movement, BIM, Ralph Uwazuruike kidnapped the IPOB founder and also sold him to the military.
In an interview with Daily Sun, Prince Kanu said that Uwazuruike’s evil intentions for Nnamdi Kanu led him to kidnap him [Nnamdi] in 2009.  
“Uwazuruike must go into exile whether he likes it or not for betraying his people and at the same time insulting them. Nobody in his right senses will insult his people the way he did, that tells you how far he has gone to rubbish his own people for the sake of money.
“He is the man that will tell few of his followers to use Biafran international passport and Biafra vehicle number plates while himself will be using those of Nigeria, have you seen this type of human being before? Like I said, at the appointed time, he must go into exile because he is not worthy to live in Biafra land.”

The Ohanaeze spokesman said the group was not in support of the attack on the Igbo elders. He noted that the Enugu incident was caused by frustration on the part of the aggrieved youths, a situation he blamed on the harsh conditions in the country.

Notable Igbo personalities, including a foremost lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze; and a First Republic minister, Chief Mbazuluike Amechi, were in attendance at the event organised by the Eastern Consultative Assembly when pro-Biafran activists went on the rampage and manhandled some of the dignitaries.Reacting on Saturday, the spokesman for Ohanaeze, Uche Achi-Okpaga, advised the Indigenous People of Biafra to avoid playing into the hands of those who intended to hold Igbo down.

The Ohanaeze spokesman said the group was not in support of the attack on the Igbo elders.

He noted that the Enugu incident was caused by frustration on the part of the aggrieved youths, a situation he blamed on the harsh conditions in the country.

Achi-Okpaga said, “The youth would always behave as such. Now, some sections of the country feel that the Igbo should not be allowed to rule the country.   Instead of distrust and disrespect, the youth should see beyond their noses that there is a deliberate and well-orchestrated ploy to downgrade Ndigbo.

“However, our youths remain our children. No matter the degree of the attacks, they are our children. We are training them informally. They will soon become leaders or elders and would, as well, learn to bear with the youthful displays of their own children.”

But IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, said the majority of Igbo leaders were afraid of the North and did not want to take any action that would offend their alleged northern benefactors.

In response to enquiries by our correspondent, the IPOB spokesman said most Igbo leaders were actively engaged in ‘undermining Igbo interest’.

 Powerful said, “These same leaders never ran to Buhari to send soldiers to stop Fulani herdsmen from slaughtering our people all over Enugu State. But when it came to IPOB agitating to free everybody from the bondage, they found the courage to invite the army to invade Igbo land.”

A leader of the Movement for Actualisation for the Sovereign State of Biafra, Uchenna Madu, in an interview with  explained that moves were being made to ‘mend fences’ with the affected Igbo leaders.

He explained that the agitators, who attacked the Igbo leaders, acted out of provocation.

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr Muhammadu Buhari has commended President Akufo-Addo for the creation of the Special Prosecutor (SP) office and promulgating the SP Act to fight corruption in Ghana.

According to him, the move demonstrates the president’s wiliness and determination to weed out corruption from the public life of the country.
He said President Akufo-Addo’s efforts to clamp down on corruption has made Ghana become a destination for foreign direct investment just like Nigeria.
Mr Buhari was speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at the 61st Independence Anniversary of Ghana at the Black Star Square in Accra, Tuesday.
He also congratulated both the government and the Ghanaian parliament for their quick passage of the SP Act.
“I congratulate both the government and the parliament for the quick passage of the SP Act and its signing into law,” he said.
Mr Buhari, therefore, called on President Akufo-Addo to consider him as a partner in the quest to fight corruption in their respective countries.
“Your Excellency, you can be assured that you have a good partner in me as I look forward to any form of collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana in tackling the menace of endemic corruption,” he said.

He said Nigeria and Ghana share close cultural ties which have continued to shape the bilateral relations between the two countries.

He has, therefore, urged the two countries to create an enabling environment for their nationals to live peacefully in one another’s country uninhibited.
Mr Buhari also commended Ghana for its role in brokering peace in Togo, following the country’s recent political turmoil.
He further called on the leadership of the two countries to continue to realise the objectives and ideals of ECOWAS to ensuring security, peace and development of the sub-region.

freedom:IPOB identifies Igbos’ major problem, blasts Zik

IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, traced what he called the bad leadership in Igbo land to the era of the late Ukpabi Asika, who served as the administrator of the defunct East Central State after the Nigeria –Biafra war.
He regretted that subsequent Igbo leaders had also not provided the much needed inspirational leadership.
The statement read, “The issue is not about Igbo leaders not doing enough to promote Igbo interest. The problem is that Igbo leaders are actively engaged in the undermining of collective Igbo interest. With the notable exception of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, the rest are mere errand boys for Abuja and the caliphate.
“They are visibly terrified of their Fulani masters and would not want to do anything to jeopardize their cherished lucrative relationship with their masters in the North. The supposedly apex socio-cultural organization Ohaneze Ndigbo is considerably worse.
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has identified what it described as the biggest problem of the Igbo nation.
The pro-Biafra group said on Saturday that the main problem of the Igbos was that their leaders were undermining the collective interest of the people.
“The problem of bad leadership in Igboland started immediately after the war. From the imposition of Ukpabi Asika as the administrator of the then East Central State, Igbo have never had good and honest leaders.
“They have honest social critics and commentators, but rarely good leaders. Every leader you see in Igboland today was placed in office by the caliphate. The Fulani caliphate decides who becomes governor, senator, Ohaneze Ndigbo president general and so on.
“These supposedly Igbo leaders are on record as being the first set of people to condemn IPOB and invite Hausa Fulani soldiers to come and kill Biafrans. Many people don’t know that IPOB has even more significant presence in Igweocha (Rivers State) than anywhere else in Biafra land, but you don’t hear Ijaw, Ikwerre Igbo, Ndoni or even Ogoni politicians castigate IPOB the way Igbo politicians do on a regular basis. That tells where their loyalty lies.
“Yoruba elders never publicly condemn OPC, Arewa Consultative Forum till date has not offered any categorical condemnation of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen, but Igbo leaders themselves canvassed that government should deploy soldiers to the South East to kill innocent agitators.
“These same leaders never ran to Buhari to send soldiers to stop Fulani herdsmen from slaughtering our people all over Enugu State, but when it came to IPOB agitating to free everybody from the Nigerian bondage, they found the courage to invite the army to invade Igboland.”
“Zik was an impediment to Igbo and Biafra progress within Nigeria, hence our repudiation of all that he stood for. Zik’s dream and greed to lead the world’s biggest black nation just to rub shoulders with the western leaders, put us in this mess.
“Despite his undoubted brilliance and intellectual, Zik was not a very good politician. He remains till date the only person that led an independence struggle and never got the chance to lead the country after independence. Unfortunately, the present day Igbo leaders have continued in that failed politics of Zik.
“That is why today we are discussing cows instead of industries, science and technology, begging Fulanis to stop killing their fellow Nigerians and to allow the existence of Nigeria to be renegotiated into acceptable standard of governance to usher in political stability, economic growth and modern development.”

nigeria Biafran war: Ojukwu’s son reveals who kick-started peace negotiations with Nigeria

 
The junior Ojukwu, who described now late Achuzia as a gallant soldier and a great Nigerian, said he was the first Biafran senior officer to make contact with the Nigerian side. The late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu’s first son, Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (Jnr.) has revealed that the Biafran war veteran, Col. Joe Achuzie, was the one who commenced the process of negotiating peace between Biafra and the Nigerian side before Maj. Philip Effiong came to meet the Nigerian side. recalls that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide had described the death of Achuzie as a great loss to Ndigbo and Nigeria, stressing that the history of the Biafra/Nigeria war would not be complete without mentioning Achuzie, a veteran who fought gallantly in the war.
However, in a statement in Awka at the weekend, Ojukwu (Jnr.) said, “He was the first Biafran senior officer to make contact with the Nigerian side and led them on to Maj. Gen. Phillip Effiong. That contact followed a visit to him by the Biafran Director of Propaganda, Uche Chukwumerije.
“He was part of the final discussions that led to Philip Effiong’s declaration of the end of the war, at which point he was interrogated and sent to detention. He didn’t think he would come out alive and based on these experiences, he later published his war memoirs – Requiem Biafra.”
Noting that Achuzie worked closely with his late father, during the battle for the emancipation of Ndigbo, Ojukwu said he was indeed a dependable officer during the Nigerian civil war. 
According to him: “It is with a heavy heart that I write to mark the passing of an Iroko, a champion of the Igbos and a great Nigerian.”
“As a civilian before the war, he was based in Port Harcourt from where he ran a large engineering firm which specialized in making explosives and training on its handling. He was the President General of the Ika Igbo at that time. He was nominated to represent the Ika Igbo at the Eastern Region Constituent Assembly which preceded the declaration of the Republic of Biafra. He was never in the Nigerian Military. However, he fought in the Korean wars from where he gained his Military and Guerrilla experience.”
“He was tasked with putting together a Biafran Militia. Based on performance, the militia was drafted into the Biafran Army and he became a Commissioned Biafran Officer. His zeal, his passion and his unconventional approach distinguished him in the battle field, though he was criticized precisely by some as being over-zealous. During the war, he was favoured by my father because of his uncanny capacity to produce results. He had a direct reporting line to him and he was involved on several fronts. The two remained quite close to the twilight of their years.”
Speaking further on Achuzie, Ojukwu said he was vocal against Igbo marginalization. “He was involved with Ohanaeze, he was at some point, the Secretary General, while Joe Irukwu was the President General. He was involved in the Oputa Panel. He remained very vocal about Igbo marginalization and supported the agitations for a new Biafra. While not calling out for secession, he believed strongly in self determination.
“Col J.O.G. Achuzie’s life was a life re-defined by the Biafran war as was the case with that entire generation and by extension the Igbo race. For one side, he was a villain and for the other side he was, and will always remain, a war hero.” he added.
“As a citizen of Nigeria, he was a man who chose not to sit on the sidelines as a spectator to history. Rather, he took his destiny in both hands and left an indelible mark in the history of our nation,” Ojukwu Jnr asserted.

Buhari plotting to arrest parents of missing schoolgirls – Fani-Kayode

 
President Muhammadu Buhari-led government was plotting to arrest parents of missing students of Government Girls Science and Technical School in Dapchi, Yobe state.
The former Minister anchored his claim on the fact that parents of the missing girls cried out to the world about the incident. Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister, on Friday alleged that.     
In a tweet, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain maintained that the current administration is ‘heartless and mendacious. ‘
The PDP chieftain also insisted that Buhari’s government was empowering Boko Haram by paying ransom for the abducted girls.
He wrote: “Heard they are attempting to arrest some of the parents of the abducted girls for speaking out and letting the world know the truth.
We’re dealing with a heartless,mendacious govt who have empowered Boko Haram enormously by paying them huge ransoms for kidnapped girls Yobe