biafrans : What we did to end civil war – Gen Akinrinade

Akinrinade disclosed that a strategy he and a fellow General in the Army, Alabi Isama, retd, authored brought an end to the civil war.

Alani Akinrinade, former Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, has revealed how he and another military officer ended the Biafra civil war that lasted for three years.

Speaking with Vanguard, the former CDS pointed out that he and Isama took days preparing the strategy which they used in ending the war.

He said: “The tactics we finally used in ending the war was a document that Alabi Isama and I prepared. We spent days and nights preparing it because the last time we were with Adekunle, he showed that he was becoming distrustful of us. He was not happy with some of the things he thought we were doing.

“He felt that we no longer believed him. That was how he posted us out of his headquarters. Alabi Isama was in the 3rd Sector while I was in the 2nd Sector. That was another mistake he made. The two sectors were adjacent to each other. Alabi Isama was in Uyo, I was in Aba. Ayo Ariyo, who was our classmate but much older than us was in Calabar. He put someone else in the 1st Division.

“The person was our senior but we didn’t get along with him. I served with him in the 2nd Division. When I quarreled with my GOC he was there sitting down and said nothing. They were just sitting down and allowing the GOC to do whatever he wanted. When he ended up in the 3rd Division, I didn’t want to do anything with him. What they didn’t know was that we had stabilised our side.

“It was the work both of us had done that we used in ending the war. We told ourselves that finishing the war was not difficult. We presented the plan to Adekunle. Whether he studied it or not, we were not sure. All he wrote on the plan was “this is tactics lesson one, when are my expecting the next tuition?” That was how we left him and returned to our sectors.

“It was the plan that we brushed up and we didn’t tell Obasanjo that we were going to execute it. We went ahead to execute it because we were tired of being in the front. It was a war that

should have lasted for one year. But it lasted for 30 months. That was why he knew so much about what we did even though he (Obasanjo) was no more there. Tomoye was there.”

BIAFRA NEWS UPDATE : General Zamani issues strong warning to Igbo, tells them what to do

He also advised them to stop crying over marginalization but to join a political party of their choice and negotiate for the presidency of the country because power is not served on a platter of gold.

Former Military governor of old Rivers State during the military administrations of the late General Murtala Muhammed and General Olusegun Obasanjo, Major General Zamani Lekwot (rtd), has asked the people of Southeast geo-political zone to quit agitating for separation from Nigeria.

“Let me explain myself. Those who are agitating are young people who were not around when the mistake of the civil war occurred,” he told Sun.

“They did not see the horrors of the war. In 1970, when the civil war ended, General Effiong, the administrator of then Biafra made a statement.

“When later the late Ojukwu came back from Ivory Coast and joined the ruling National Party of Nigeria, NPN, he also made a statement.

“And these statements are instructive in the healing of the wounds especially the perceived wrongs. These statements had the capacity in holistically sealing off whatever wrongs that were done before, during and after the war and put the nation at peace.

“Now, the dialogue that I am talking about is among other things, the series of conferences that were held, culminating in that of 2014.

“The 2014 National Conference incorporated all the recommendations of all the previous conferences and put forward something that can be used as a roadmap.

“It is shocking that some people for whatever reasons don’t want to have anything to do with it. The more shocking thing is that they have not come out with an alternative.

“The fact that they have allowed the country to continue to wallow under tension is not believable. Here is a situation, where insecurity, unemployment, distrust, among Nigerians are on the increase and yet you don’t want to use what is available.

“We have made progress really, but mistakes have been made here and there which are setting the country backwards. What is required is to cross the ‘T’s’ and dot the ‘I’s’.

“No nation is perfect, including the developed world. In life, there is always one problem or the other and this is what life is all about – continuous struggle.

“People who are talking of separation they don’t know the consequences. They don’t even know what they are talking about. They should listen to their elders who saw Nigeria before independence, after independence, up till today.

“Now, we have so many ethnic groups in Nigeria. Each ethnic group cannot run its own affairs as country. It is not possible. What it entails is compromise, give and take.

“People who are talking about marginalization, we are running a democracy; they should join a political party of their choice and then negotiate, lobby to fly the flag of the party and then during election they can even star in the election in order to sell what they want.

“This is a democracy and you cannot sit by and be crying of marginalization. Winning in a democracy is not done a-la carte. It is not donated or done by force or military fiat.

“This is the aspect most people are not getting. In a democracy, you have a level playing ground for people to exercise their political fundamental rights.

“So, you don’t need to talk about marginalization in a democracy when you can put your best materials forward, lobby and get what you want. I don’t see the need to be repeating what needs to be done.

“Somebody made a statement that no country has ever survived two civil wars. That is a fact. If we don’t learn from history, then we are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past. We must get it right this time.”

IPOB Women Rivers State Protest

NO ONE NIGERIA : Sowore makes shocking revelation on how DSS favours arrested Boko Haram Commanders, treated him

Sowore, who is the 2019 Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, made the disclosure when he appeared before a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.

The co-convener of the RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore, has disclosed that the Department of State Services, DSS, refused him from making calls while granting arrested Boko Haram Boko Haram commanders access to telephone, while in custody.

The Federal Government re-arraigned Sowore for conspiracy to commit treason and insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to Sowore: “I am not allowed to see sunshine. I have not been outside except today. I am happy people are staying strong.

“I have no doubt this will come to an end in favour of the Nigerian people. Whether you like it or not, the revolution will happen. It is only a matter of time. They gave me no access to telephone. No TV. No newspapers.

“What is interesting is that Boko Haram commanders who are engaged in high-level terrorism have access to telephone, TV and even cable in their cells. So you wonder which one is better: a freedom fighter or a terrorist.”

BIAFRANS DSS speaks on ‘arrest’ of journalist, Chido Onumah at Abuja airport

 Chido Onumah. yesterday upon his return to Nigeria from Spain where he recently bagged a doctorate in communication studies.

Reacting to his arrest, the secret police explained that it only interacted with him on a t-shirt he wore on his way into Abuja town from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

The Department of State Services, DSS, has reacted to the reported arrest of a journalist, Chido Onumah.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, DSS said the wordings on the t-shirt: “We are all Biafrans,” was capable of attracting mob attack to Onumah.

The statement reads: “To set the records right, Onumah was never arrested by the Service. He was rather engaged in an interaction during which an act of his capable of undermining public order and national security was explained to him.

“On his arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on 29th September, 2019, it was discovered that Onumah wore a T-shirt with WE ARE ALL BIAFRANS inscription on it. With credible intelligence that he might be a subject of mob attack if allowed to go into town in same cloth, the Service invited him and drew his attention to the implications of his probable (un)intended action.

“It was strongly believed that an attack on Onumah would have sparked ethno-religious reprisals with dire consequences for law and order and public safety in the country. He understood the issues and pledged not to engage in activities that may cause disaffection in Abuja and the country at large. He subsequently removed the cloth with the inciting symbols and inscriptions and agreed not to use it.

“The interaction between Onumah and the Service held in a convivial atmosphere. He appreciated the courtesies extended to him. Afterwards, the Service arranged for him to go back to his accommodation in town.

“It is hoped that this clarification has dispelled the erroneous claims and reportage that he was arrested. The Service acted within the confines of its mandate and only carried out its routine security duty that could have been discharged by a similar agency in any part of the world. It is not out of place for concerned security agencies to have sought clarification from a traveller concerning a subject of security interest.

“The DSS reaffirms its avowed commitment to the rule of law and protection of citizens and national critical assets.”

nigeria police accused me of being a Biafran holding Nigerian passport –Onumah

                                                    

After such a long flight, I was accosted by DSS operatives and made to wait for two hours in their office at the airport and another four hours at their headquarters in Abuja for something I think it was not worth the trouble they put me to. At the end of the day, it turned out to be about the inscription on the T-shirt that I was wearing, which was the title of my book, ‘We are all Biafrans.’

I still don’t know exactly what they wanted to achieve by arresting me.     Although I visited Spain, I had come in from Gothenburg in Sweden. I flew from Gothenburg to Frankfurt and from there to Abuja. It was a long trip and I was really tired. I simply wanted to get home and have some rest. A few friends of mine were visiting Nigeria from Accra, Ghana and I needed to be with them. We had scheduled a dinner for that Sunday. So it was quite shocking that I couldn’t make it.

Initially, they took me to their office and the first question the officer there asked me was: “You are a Biafran, why do you have a Nigerian passport?” I replied, “I beg your pardon, I’m a Nigerian and that is why I have a Nigerian passport. There is no country like Biafra. So I can’t possibly hold a Biafran passport.”

The man said, “But that’s not what is written on your shirt.” And I told him that ‘We are all Biafrans’ is the title of my book.         

Yes, it was quite troubling. After the encounter, what bothered me was the restriction of press freedom and the rights of Nigerians to move around and to associate with other people. So we moved from worrying about who you meet with, what kind of people you associate with, whether you are able to go to a park to congregate and have a conversation or not, as well as what you write, to security agencies accosting you for what you are carrying, what kind of phone you are using and what you are wearing. In the end, he took the shirt from me and insisted that I can’t wear it ever again.

I see it as an infringement on my fundamental rights. It’s not about me really; it could be any other person and the way forward. Anyone could be arrested if they think that what you are wearing is offensive. They said something to the effect that they got a tip-off from some fellow passengers on the same plane that brought me to Nigeria, who feared that there was a plan to disturb the peace and that I was going to be part of it. Based on their press release, they said they were trying to protect me because some people had planned to attack me. Mentally I checked their claims, wondering why anybody would plan to attack me. I told them that I had worn the T-shirt for three years and they were shocked.

The incident called to question the so-called intelligence of the intelligence agency. This book has been out for three years and the T-shirt was first worn on the day the book was launched, which was on May 30, 2016.     

I wear this T-shirt regularly. In fact, it has become like a national dress to me. I wear it whenever I am travelling out of the country and whenever I am coming back. Most weekends, that’s what I wear, over a pair of jeans trousers, to my office. When they heard this, my interrogators feigned surprise, as if they didn’t know in the first place.

What I found quite strange was the fact that they couldn’t link the book to the T-shirt. I told them several times that the inscription on the shirt was the title of my book, but it didn’t resonate with them. This got me wondering. When the book was launched in 2016, some prominent Nigerians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was the special guest of honour, attended the event. Almost all the major national newspapers had the story on their front pages. I was surprised that an organisation like the DSS didn’t have any information on the event.

If the DSS operatives had any knowledge of the book, perhaps, they wouldn’t have asked me some of the questions they were asking. What I learnt from their reactions is that they had concluded that I was an ‘anarchist’ who had arrived in the country to foment trouble by wearing the T-shirt. As a result, they had already decided to stop me by any means necessary.                                            

That is the impression because one of them said to me, “Why we are trying to protect you is because if you wear the shirt into town, somebody would attack you and there would be reprisal from the Biafran people and the whole city would go up in flames.” I told him that I was neither a Biafran nor a sympathiser of Biafra and I didn’t belong to MASSOB.

 In fact, both MASSOB and IPOB people see me as their sworn enemy because they think my book doesn’t propagate their ideals and ideas. So for me, mixing with them was really uncalled for. There is a sense in which I think that by seeing me in that T-shirt, they believed I was a supporter of IPOB. I spent a long time trying to convince them that they were wrong.

No, they didn’t. I am a veteran of this process. I am used to the DSS.  I have been a guest of the DSS, even as a student of the University of Calabar. As a journalist, I have had a run-in with the operatives of the agency. So I know the drill. I know how they operate.

When they asked me to follow them at the airport, I didn’t resist or create a scene. I simply went with them and when I got into the room, I started reading a book and waited for them to ask their questions. Because of the way I conducted myself, perhaps, they didn’t intimidate me. They didn’t raise their voice or shout at me. We only disagreed. They would raise a point and I would say no, I don’t think that is right.                                                                                      

There is no doubt about that, but the other dangerous aspect of this, which I think people need to pay attention to, is that the serious disconnect between the so-called security agencies and the public they were supposed to serve almost borders on paranoia.

You pride yourself as the foremost security agency in the country, but you need to have intelligence, you need to do your research, have background information. You can’t just go around picking up people randomly and denying them their fundamental rights in the name of maintaining law and order. You simply invoked your constitutional responsibility to maintain law and order when there is no basis for such arrest. So we have to worry not just about what we write or say, but also what we wear.

In this case, there was really no basis for arresting me. I am not guilty of what they were trying to accuse me of. I don’t support IPOB, I don’t support the agitation for Biafra and I don’t belong to any of those fringe groups seeking dismemberment of the country. So there was no basis for taking me in for questioning.                                                                                                                                 

Well again, it just calls for vigilance. Part of it was displayed on Sunday. I really commend Nigerians, especially young Nigerians on social media. The fact that people rallied round and sent out lot of tweets contributed to my release. They (DSS) were willing to keep me till Monday, but they were under severe pressure. They buckled and started talking to me until we reached an agreement and understanding.

No, I didn’t believe their claim and I let them know it. I told them that I had been putting on the T-shirt for three years and nobody had ever questioned me. They kept trying to what they w explain what they were doing, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with the fact that the present Federal Government cares about its citizens.

Maybe not directly, but in the broader picture of things, it is not just about me or Sowore; it is the larger problem of wanting to control the thought process of people so as to stop them from expressing themselves.          

I was responding to their questions and I queried why, in this era, journalists are being detained and asked them to show pictures on their phones and other flimsy reasons for the detention of journalists.

I don’t know. They had the phone in their possession. I can’t say what they did with it. I have not really had time to check it. They had my passport and went through it.

I think it is. I mentioned my own case, Sowore’s trial and the detention of James Ebiri for two years. Other people have been being detained by security officials for posting things against state governors on social media. And if the space, in terms of civil liberty, is really shrinking, then citizens need to rise and do something about it. Those who try to limit other people’s liberty will continue to do so unless the people say ‘enough is enough, we can’t take this anymore.’ If they don’t do that, those who seek to oppress them and limit their rights will have a field day.         

No, it will not. I have a new book that will put in proper perspective the crises we have been facing in the last five years or so, including the issue of revolution. Nothing is going to stop me.

I think it is important, but the nature of the revolution is what we have to sit down and discuss. We do need a revolution. We need to have a radical transformation of the Nigerian society. That is the only way we can move forward as a nation.

IPOB : Why South East may embrace IPOB in 2023 – Ezeife

                                               

He also said that the agitation and crusade being carried out by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his group for a Biafra referendum were forced on Ndigbo by the country.

Former Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has said that the elderly people in South East may embrace the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, if the other parts of Nigeria conspire and deny the zone Presidency in 2023.

Ezeife accused the Nigerian government of making deliberate efforts towards pushing the Igbos out of the country by denying them occupying sensitive positions including leading any of the security agencies.

He told Vanguard: “You can’t beat a person and say don’t cry. What Nnamdi Kanu and others are doing is crying because they are beaten and they are doing it in a way that is non-violent.

“Therefore, Nigerians should appreciate their method. I am happy the rest of the world, Europe, European Union, they met with Nnamdi Kanu and they saw point with what he was saying.

“The (United Nations) UN also met with Nnamdi Kanu in Switzerland, I don’t know whether they have changed their mind they invited him to the United Nations General Assembly, but now having met with him in Switzerland, they may not meet him again in New York.

“So, I think Nnamdi Kanu is doing what is forced on us (Ndigbo) because some of us believe that we should find out more mature ways of going about it.

“But the ideal is very lawful, they are crying for a referendum, that is a democracy. I think if Igbo people are denied the Presidency in 2023, then, no matter how unpopular IPOB may be among the older people everybody may rush it.”

On the 2023 Presidency and the agitation by the South West and the North to go for the plum position, he said: “If you want to deny them (Ndigbo) 2023 Presidency, then deny them citizenship of Nigeria.

“I am feeling that it is because of rejection that other Nigerians reject Igbo Presidency that (Mallam Nasir) el-Rufai wants to be President, that (Asiwaju Bola) Tinubu wants to be President and it will favour them. If that happens, the real meaning is that the Igbos should cease being citizens of Nigeria.

“That there is no point belonging where you are rejected. One rejected does not reject himself. Among those who reject you, you don’t want to force yourself to belong.

“So, there is this talk about Biafra. IPOB is promoting Biafra because of various problems and punishments against Ndigbo. Because of many problems cause the Igbos in Nigeria, they are trying to leave. But the Federal Government of Nigeria has been very busy pushing the Igbos out of Nigeria.

“We are traders, we import like containers etc, but when our people import things, the things are seized and auctioned. Ibeto was one of the strongest people in cement, after some time, he was crippled. Instead of going up, he was going back to give advantage to Non-Igbo.”