BIAFRA : Uganda tries to mediate between Nigeria and separatists in 1967 Biafra War

Civil war. Ten months into the civil war, the international community looked for a peaceful solution to the crisis. A meeting was convened in London and it was resolved that peace talks be held in a neutral place to end the hostilities. Kampala was agreed upon by all parties.

The leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra, Lt Col Odumegwu Ojukwu, inspects a guard of honour. Photo | File  

By Henry Lubega

On May 30, 1967, a section of the Nigerian army, led by Lt Col Odumegwu Ojukwu, steered a break away from eastern Nigeria to form the Republic of Biafra. Nigeria was then led by Gen Yakubu Gowon.
More than a month later, on July 6, 1967, troops from the federal government of Nigeria attacked the self-declared Republic of Biafra, starting a 33-month civil war.

Ten months into the war, the international community looked for a peaceful solution to the crisis. Former colonial masters Britain, working through the Commonwealth, brought the two warring parties to a round table in London.

The London meeting resolved to have peace talks to end the hostilities. It was agreed that a convenient place be found outside Britain to hold the talks.
The Biafran team preferred Senegal capital Dakar because their president was the first head of state to recognise Biafra. But the Nigerian government was not willing to have talks in a country it deemed hostile.

Enter Uganda
At the London meeting, Commonwealth secretary general Arnold Smith had asked the two parties to present a list of capitals they preferred to host the talks. Kampala was the only capital to feature on both lists.
In choosing Kampala, the Biafra delegation said Kampala had not shown any hostility towards them.

Former president Milton Obote.

“Uganda is a member of the Commonwealth, OAU [Organisation of African Unity] and the East African Common Services Organization. Kampala may be a compromise choice that appears to reconcile the claims of Lagos that talks should be held under the auspices of the Commonwealth or OAU,” writes John J. Stremlau in The International Politics of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970.

“The Ugandan head of state, Dr [Apollo Milton] Obote has not shown any hostility towards Biafra since the struggle began, and the influence of our vocal East African friends will be around the corner to strengthen Biafra’s position.”

The two parties were to meet in Kampala for nine-day talks starting from May 23, 1968. The Nigerian government delegation was led by commissioner for Information and Labour, Anthony Enahoro. Others on his team were Aminu Kano, Col George Kurobo, Ukpabi Asika and Dr B.J. Ikpeme.
The rebels’ delegation was led by the chief justice of Biafra, Sir Louis Mbanefo. Members of his team included C.C. Mojekwu, James Udo-Affia, Prof Eni Njoku and I.S. Kogbara.

As chairperson of the talks, president Milton Obote was given a free hand to appoint observers, provided they were not heads of state. They had to be of any standing in society.
Obote appointed Uganda’s Foreign Affairs minister Sam Odaka and Commonwealth secretary general Smith as the two observers.

While opening the talks at the Parliament Building in Kampala, Obote said: “It is with this basic consideration that I would urge you to be magnanimous, to take the lead in initiating an immediate agreement on the secession of hostilities. To both delegations, I would say that the federal nation of Nigeria before the conflict was the kingpin of African freedom.

“Political solutions are fundamental in these talks and should be given more emphasis than the military aspects.
Political decisions and understanding are useful and necessary and it’s possible to guarantee their permanence through mutual confidence. Such confidence can only be generated when there is mutual respect and genuine appreciation of fears each group entertain.

“I am of the opinion that you are capable of spearing the necessary confidence among yourselves for the success of these talks. For the last 11 months, the civil war has given the impression that you have sought to shut your heart and eyes upon one another. My appeal today is that you open your hearts and minds and you retrace your steps. The prayer of all your well-wishers is that the painful process of the past 11 months be reversed if you are to find a lasting solution.”

The talks did not start well on day one. News reached Kampala that Port Harcourt had been captured by the federal troops from the rebels. This dampened the spirit of the Biafran delegation in the same measures it strengthened the government’s delegation, giving it an upper hand in the talks.

The bad omen of the day was not reserved for the rebels alone. An aide to the head of the government delegation, Johnson Bajo, disappeared from his room at Apollo Hotel, now Sheraton Kampala Hotel.

“The Uganda police discovered the body in a swamp outside Kampala long after the conference, and from the autopsy it concluded he had been murdered. The federal government had no idea who the adductors were, but suspected the crime was somehow linked to the Ugandan domestic politics and the then incipient secessionist movement among the Baganda,” writes Stremlau.
After the delegations overcame the slow start, the two parties again failed to reach a compromise on the fourth day.

Writing in Nigeria: Echoes of A Century, Ifeoha Azikiwe, says: “The Kampala peace initiatives could not advance progressively due to disagreement. The Nigerian delegation wanted the discussions to be held before the ceasefire, adding that anything to the contrary was running away from the problem. The Biafran delegation demanded for immediate secession of hostilities, removal of economic blockade, and removal of federal troops to pre-war boundaries.”

With each side standing its ground, the talks came to a halt. The government delegation thought it had an upper hand as it was making advances on the battle field. It saw no need of making concessions with the rebels.
Days later, on May 29, 1968, Lt Col Ojukwu dealt the talks a blow during his speech to mark Biafra’s first anniversary.

“They believe in nothing but a military solution and would prefer that to peaceful negotiations. Their insincerity about the current talks has been borne out by Nigeria’s delaying manoeuvres, first during the preliminary talks and now during the full-scale negotiations. Nigeria and Britain will bear the full responsibility for the failure of the talks,” he said in a midnight radio broadcast.

Following his leader’s declaration, the leader of the Biafra delegation, Sir Louis Mbafeno, started sending signals of his side’s intentions to pull out of the talks.

It took the Commonwealth general secretary’s convincing for Mbafeno to delay his walkout, which he eventually did. On May 31, 1968, after hours of pleading by Smith, who even suggested a one-week break to consult with his principles. Mbafeno, however, declared that they were leaving Kampala. And that evening he left Kampala for London.

“The Biafran delegation does not see that any useful purpose can be served in Kampala while more lives are lost daily in this gruesome war,” he was quoted as saying, adding that since the Biafran army was not yet defeated, they would not surrender.

His counterpart representing the Nigerian government, Chief Enahoro, stayed around for a while during which time he held a series of meetings with president Obote.
Enahoro wanted to get assurance from the Ugandan president that he was not going to recognise Biafra as a state.

“The Nigerian federal government should consider a unilateral ceasefire for about a week. The Nigerian government is in a strong enough position militarily and politically to be magnanimous and should accept the Biafran challenge. This would also strengthen the hands of Nigeria’s friends,” Obote told Enahoro in his parting remarks.
“That is not possible,” Enahoro responded.

Breakdown in talks
The first to react to the collapse of the talks was the Vatican, with Pope Paul VI saying “the breakdown of the Kampala talks had cancelled the prospects of a rapid and peaceful solution to the Nigerian crisis”.

A few days later, the Nigerian government issued a statement, saying: “The Kampala talks broke down because the rebel leaders wanted a ceasefire, the mere shadow of peace.”
From Kampala, the two delegations headed back to London. They wanted to do a post-mortem on what went wrong in Kampala.

Britain, having been behind the talks, immediately sought ways of how to save its image. The Labour government of then prime minister Harold Wilson was accused of fuelling the crisis through its continued supply of arms to the Nigerian government. The sale of arms and failed Kampala peace talks were discussed by the British parliament.

According to the British Parliament Hansard of June 1968 volume 766, then British secretary of state for Foreign Affairs Michael Stewart said, “Until recently our main hopes for success were in those Kampala talks. These talks may be resumed.”

Britain’s state minister for Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Shepherd, was placed in charge of convincing the two parties to return to Kampala for talks.
The London deliberations were seen by some as a delaying tactic by the British government to prolong the suffering of the people of Biafra.

“No more negotiations with Britain. There is little doubt now that negotiations are being used by Britain to delay further recognition of our country by other peace-loving states. The government of the people of Biafra demand an immediate end to the Lord Shepherd hypocritical negotiations in London,” Mbanefo declared.
“We call on Britain to think seriously on her peace moves or continue the supply of arms to Lagos and drop all the pretences at playing the role of a peace maker.”

BIAFRA : Air force’s first female combatant helicopter pilot dies in freak accident

Eight months ago, Tolulope Arotile, the first female combat helicopter pilot of the Nigerian Air Force, was decorated by Sadique Abubakar, chief of air staff.

Arotile had just ended a programme at the Starlite International Training Academy, South Africa.

While decorating her alongside Kafayat Sanni, the first female fighter pilot, Abubakar had said: “They are not only female officers but outstanding aviators. While one of the two pilots is the first female fighter pilot in the 55 years history of the NAF, the second one is the first female combatant helicopter pilot.”

But less than a year after, Arotile was killed in a freak accident at the Nigerian Air Force base in Kaduna state.

According to a statement, the deceased did not recover from the injuries sustained in the accident.

She was said to have lived a “short but impactful life”.

“It is with great sorrow that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) regretfully announces the unfortunate demise of Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, who died today, 14 July 2020, as a result of head injuries sustained from a road traffic accident at NAF Base Kaduna,” the statement read.‬

“Until her death, ‪Flying Officer Arotile, who was commissioned into the NAF in September 2017 as a member of Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 64, was the first ever female combat helicopter pilot in the Service.‬ During her short but impactful stay in the Service, late Arotile, who hailed from Iffe in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, contributed significantly to the efforts to rid the North Central States of armed bandits and other criminal elements by flying several combat missions under Operation GAMA AIKI in Minna, Niger State.

“The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on behalf of officers, airmen, airwomen and civilian staff of the NAF, commiserates with the family of late ‪Flying Officer Arotile‬ over this irreparable loss. We pray that the Almighty God grants her soul eternal rest.”

When she graduated as the best flight student from her set in 2017, her parents were among those who attended a ceremony held in her honour.

ipob : Biafra Christians being killed’ — IPOB asks US to appoint special envoy on Nigeria

A group of coordinators of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the United States says the country should appoint a special envoy to the Lake Chad region, alleging that Christians are being killed there.

In a letter to Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, the group alleged that “Biafra Christians” are being targeted in incessant killings in the region and other parts of the country.

The IPOB coordinators accused “extremists” of spearheading the attacks which it said the federal government has failed to address.

It made reference to the report by the United Kingdom All-Party Parliamentary Group on International Religious Freedom or Belief, a group made up of  British parliamentarians, which said Christians are being targeted because of their faith in Nigeria.

The letter dated July 6 and signed by Clement Okoro, the group’s national coordinator in the US, read: “We write to you as the United States coordinators for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), an organization that represents the social, political, and economic interests of Biafrans in Nigeria.

“These issues have been compounded by the Nigerian government’s inability and unwillingness to hold violent perpetrators accountable for their actions.

“As Biafrans who live and work in America but remain immensely concerned about the state of our homeland, we urge you to consider appointing a Special Envoy to the Lake Chad region who can hold the Nigerian government accountable for its harmful actions and equally detrimental inaction.

“Our concerns have also been echoed by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief, a group of British lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum established to raise awareness of and defend against religious freedom abuses around the world. Last month, the APPG released a report titled, Nigeria: Unfolding Genocide, which provided recommendations to prevent the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

“While the report noted that issues like resource competition, population growth, and climate change have contributed to the farmer-herder conflict, it highlighted extremist ideology and government mismanagement as the main sources of conflict, emphasizing, “the inability of the Nigerian Federal and State Governments to protect Christian farmers, and the lack of political will to respond adequately to warnings or to bring perpetrators of violence to justice, has fostered feelings of victimization and persecution.”

The group said in addition to appointing a special envoy in response to the alleged attack, the US should also conduct a study to highlight the issues and hold the Nigerian government accountable.

“The IPOB strongly supports this request, as we believe the only way to prevent the Nigerian government from allowing these attacks and human rights violations to continue with impunity is rigorous oversight conducted by a well- respected third party, like a Special Envoy,” it said.

“People around the world look to the United States as a defender of human rights and democratic values, and we strongly believe that American oversight in the region would promote stability and save lives.”

The press statement was distributed by Mercury Public Affairs, the US lobbying firm.

BIAFRA : Towards Independence of the Biafra State

Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, a veteran Diplomat and Development Studies Expert with thirty-year achievements in the Nigerian Foreign Service. She is widely known for her performance orientation, positive mentorship and team spirit. In recognition of her high-level competences, the Anambra State Government appointed Ambassador Ajulu-Okeke to serve in various capacities. She also served in the All Progressive Grand Party (APGA), a Southeastern-based political party, before relocating to the United States.

In the present-day Federal Republic of Nigeria, several years after its independence, the leaders have not succeeded in rebuilding its state institutions enough to reflect all-inclusive ethnic diversity, let alone in adopting Western-style democracy that takes cognizance of different public opinions on development issues in the country. The struggle for and misuse of power have brought the country into a stalemate, disrupting any efforts to overcome the deepening economic and social crisis, she explained in her in-depth discussions.

In this interview with Kester Kenn Klomegah from Modern Diplomacy, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke further spoke about many other significant and outstanding issues that are creating tensions in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and why the Biafra has to work unreservedly towards self-determination and independence. Here are the interview excerpts:

How is the situation, in your interpretation, in the Eastern regions that constitute Biafra today in Nigeria?

The situation in the region is dire depicting a derelict lack of infrastructure widespread unemployment, insecurity and youth hopelessness. As a result of decades of state endorsed systemic exclusion since the end of the Civil War, economic emasculation of the East by Nigeria in giving all Easterners £20 irrespective of previous bank holdings at the end of the war, State sponsored nepotic ostracism which eschewed merit and human enterprise from mainstream governance, Easterners found themselves at the brink of socio-economic exterminations and had to pull themselves up by sheer perseverance and dint of effort resulting in disenchantment with Nigeria and a massive migration to new diasporas.

In the region, what economic spheres are available for foreign investors? Currently what foreign players are showing interest in the region?

There are no foreign investors of repute in the region. However, a plethora of virile local entrepreneurs abound which provide fertile ground for viable foreign investment. The indigenous entrepreneurial spirit and the dexterous will to survive the odds has been of immense value in containing widespread poverty. To this end, a number of indigenous entrepreneurs such as Innoson Motors, Coscharis Forms, Lynden Forms, ABC Transport, Air Peace, AA Oil et cetera, have become successful industrialists from sheer dint of self-effort.  

The economic spheres open to foreign investors will usher in unprecedented growth is in the area of human capital especially in the digital space. Human economy and venture capital leveraging on the age-old entrepreneurial apprenticeship tradition is the way to go for any foreign investor.  No foreign investors are currently showing interest in the region due to heavy occupationist police and military presence in the region that does not permit the thriving nature of free enterprise to grow as people live and operate in a climate of persecution and fear.

What investment incentives and kinds of business support are available for foreign investors in Biafra?

The Republic of Biafra will emplace a sustainable merit-based investment regime and a justiciable investment clime based on the rule of law. With the emplacement of security and the rule of law, merit and equity in governance models and institutions and a sense of patriotism and belonging in the Citizenry, the restored Republic will lay enviable firm sustainable foundations for investor confidence and economic growth based on tried and tested models and international best practice. The model of business support incentives readily available to the People are the traditional entrepreneurial self-help. Highfaluting government postulations on business exist on paper but are beyond the reach and access of the common man, especially the unschooled rural dweller or urban slum dweller with no access to political or nepotic privilege.

Since 1970, after the civil war, has Igbo women’s status changed in the Eastern Nigeria? Generally, what are the popular perceptions about Igbo women, as against Yoruba, in Federal Republic of Nigeria?

Nothing has changed for the Igbo Woman since after the Civil War. With the increasing socio-political incarceration endured by her male brethren, Igbo women lost their self-esteem. Popular perception of the Igbo Woman are no different from the plight of their male brethren. The renowned resilient strength and baseline support for which Igbo women are known for has been corroded by willful denial of opportunity by the Nigerian State. Many have been forced into unwholesome practices for basic sustenance and are now part of the human and brain-drain which has engulfed the East.

Do the social and cultural changes influencing the activities of women in Biafra State. Can you please discuss the main spheres where Igbo women are currently?

Currently Igbo Women agonize over the seemingly disparate dissipative efforts of their Male brethren in their quest for the restoration of Biafra. Within the sphere of Christianity however Igbo women have excelled and found avenues for self-worth and social expression as religious activities and platforms have created viable avenues to restore the self-esteem of the Igbo Woman. Also, Igbo Woman in the diaspora has again and again proved beyond all reasonable doubt her achievement orientation and resilience in all walks of life. Names like Chimamanda Adichie and Ngozi Okonjo-lweala are household names.

What are the challenges, in your view, that remain especially for Igbo women and the youth in the region of Biafra?

Several challenges exist, the first of which is coercive alien hostile occupation of our homeland which have severally subjected Igbo Women to rape, ravaging their homes and farmlands, decapitating their husbands and children and sources of traditional rural livelihoods. Widespread poverty, unemployment and unemployable skill sets, remain a major challenge. State endorsed occupation of large portions of rural and village communal lands by alien hostile Jihadists have hampered the ability of women to provide for their families as supportive income earners.

Many women and young graduates from schools and cannot find jobs as there are no factories to absorb them and Government, the major employer, has become an overburdened inept nepotism and corrupt. With the prevailing socio-economic climate and the steadily dwindling economic fortunes and hostile stance of the Government towards entrepreneurial endeavor of Easterners, the future is bleak for women and youth. The only glimpse of hope in the horizon is a fallback to the age-old traditional practice of nurtured apprenticeship has been the bulwark of survival and sustenance in the face of the current existential threat facing Easterners.

Could it have been better if the region were independent of the federal system of governance?

An independent Biafra will, of course, usher in a regime of laws. A merit-based system of law and order. Independent Biafra will emplace a just and fair system where merit is accorded due cognition and reward and criminality and kleptomania is eschewed. In five years of independence indigenous enterprise of the East will reach unparalleled heights with world class infrastructure and a first-tier digital economy. This will be achieved through the effort and resilience of the indigenous Peoples of Biafra. In the face of years of criminal neglect by Nigeria and our strong footing in the Diaspora, Biafra’s emancipation and development will be the Eighth Wonder of the World.

In your objective assessment, what can you say are the current achievements or gains in the economic sphere for the Biafra under Federal President Buhari?

Absolutely nothing. The current entrapment of Biafra within the British Nigeria contraption prevents the actualization of its investment and development potential in all ramifications. This is why we Easterners want to delink from this entrapped arrangement called Nigeria.

What are some of the weaknesses and strengths of Nigeria’s stranglehold on Biafra?

Nepotism at all levels and institutions of Government. Morbid corruption. Endemic kleptocracy. Ethnic cleansing and persecution of Christians and ethnic capture of the military and security apparatus of the State. Our current entrapment in Nigeria has been of no gain to the East and a lingering Albatross.

What do you suggest could be possible exit ways out from all these? Most probably, you would advocate for political independence, to become a separate republic?

Some members of the international community and the Comity of Nations were not part of and did not participate in the 1885 Berlin Conference which saw the scramble for and partition of Africa and heralded blatant conquest colonialism. Greedy European nations lumped indigenous nationalities together with little regard for their distinct indigenes and cultures identities. European colonialism therefore created unstable amalgamations of hitherto strange and alien groupings into artificial contemporary nation states of today.

In many African nations such as Nigeria, these indigenous nationalities have had a hostile acrimonious fractious relationship that has impeded development and led to unstable anarchy. The result is that there is massive corruption and widespread kleptocracy with indigenous ethnicities in power making strenuous effort to capture State resources to the exclusion of other groups. This scenario found in many African countries today have led to several Civil Wars and quests for self-determination notable of which is the Nigeria-Biafra War and the enduring quest for self-determination of the indigenous Peoples of Biafra and recently of the entrapped nationalities of the Western and Middle Belt Regions.

The international community has long recognized that the structure of many African states remains unsustainable due to the artificial nature of their creation. They also recognize that many of these indigenous nationalities such as the Igbo have enduring ancient democratic state and governance systems that were subsumed by colonial conquest and use capable of having separate countries as seen with the Republic of Biafra.

The way forward in restoring these ancient nationalities and bringing sustainable peace and development to the beleaguered peoples of Biafra is through the conduct of plebiscites that will afford the indigenous nationalities the inalienable right to choose how they are governed.

In Nigeria, the juxtaposition of ancient nationalities with incompatible values presently held together by a coercive military decree in a centrist top down military format federations, fundamental regional autonomies should be returned to the constituent indigenous groupings through the conduct of plebiscites. There should also be the renunciation of the military Decree 1999 Constitution which has been held the constituent indigenes hostage since 1999. A return to the truly democratic 1963 Constitution and holding of self-determination autonomy plebiscites for all indigenous nationalities will usher in sustainable development and peace.

Echefu, Igbo youth leader, backs Nnamdi Kanu

Vincent Kalu

The National President of Indigenous Igbo Youth Congress (IIYC), Chief John Mayor Echefu, has said, the the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, would not have taken to peaceful struggle for the emancipation of the Igbo, if successive leadership of the country have been fair to the Igbo.

In a statement, Echefu emphasised that his group after considering the plight of the Igbo has decided to support Kanu in his peaceful approach to the realisation of the Biafra project. He said: “After the civil war, the government said there was no victor, no vanquished, but its actions and policies since the end of the war have proved to be the contrary.

“Any part of Igbo you visit, you will behold the relics of the civil war; the race is denied of what should come to them in terms of appointments, infrastructure development. Any single thing or project executed in the region is blown out of proportion, and would be seen as a favour, while jumbo projects are being carried out in other parts of the country. Is this not a way of telling the Igbo that the war is still on in another way, or telling them that the war is not over?”

The IIYC leader urged the Igbo leaders to stop denigrating Kanu, noting that if they can’t encourage or support him, they had better held their peace. If his approach is not all that right, like some people argue, then, it beholds them to advise him, and advise him on the right approach instead of castigating him.

Echefu pointed out that the IPOB leader is a child of circumstance, and he is trying to mirror the situation that his people found themselves in the country. His actions have given voice top some Igbo who have lost their voices or who watch helplessly as they were being oppressed.

BIAFRA ; IPOB,MASSOB, mourns Izuogu

Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri

As the whole world continues to mourn the loss of Ezekiel Izuogu, mainstream Igbo pressure groups, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB) have expressed their sadness over the demise.

IPOB in its own press statement by the group’s media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful described his death as great lost to Biafra.

“But we Biafrans would continue  to remember him and his family, we would not forget what usefulness he would have  been to us if Biafra is achieved” Powerful said.

Also, MASSOB through its leader, Uchenna Madu said “His death was a huge physical loss to the people of Biafra and Africa in general. He is a patriotic Biafran that will forever be honoured and celebrated.

He added “The administration of General Sani Abacha and other successive governments of Nigeria frustrated his technological ingenuity that was deeply rooted in in his Igboistic nature and aspirations, his death is being celebrated by the dormant and unprogressive brains of Hausa Fulani who taught they have killed his V-600 vision and other technological advancements.

“Though MASSOB mourns his physical loss but his technological ingenuity, political aspirations and economical stability of Biafra land are still intact, soon the reminders of Ezekiel Izuogu will manifest.

“MASSOB rejects the hypocritical and subtle condolences of Nigeria federal government led by President Mohammadu Buhari. What mould and shaped Ezekiel Izuogu is not dead, the spirit of Biafranism and ingenuity of Igbo man can never die.

” He is a patriotic and indefatigable Igbo man whose love for his Igboism have no match, his desire to project Igboism and unquenchable love for Igbo can never cease even in his transition.

“Even though Nigeria rejected and consciously failed to project his V-600 locally made car in 1997, even before India manufactured their first locally made car called “INDI” because he is an Igbo man, Ezekiel Izuogu also rejected the fortune offer from South Africa government to establish his Izuogu Motor Manufacturing company  in Pretoria. He is a true Biafran that love to promote his Biafranism in Biafra soil.” Madu stated.

IPOB : Biafra is imminent – Nnamdi Kanu reacts to Isa Funtua’s death

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has reacted to the death of President Muhammadu Buhari’s close associate, Isa Funtua.

Funtua had died on Monday shortly after suffering cardiac arrrst.

Reacting to the development, Nnamdi Kanu on his Facebook page described Funtua as an architect of Operation Python Dance.

According to him, 2020 is Biafra year because people who swore it would never come to pass were now dieing.

He wrote: “Another architect of Operation Python Dance is gone. Three down, two more to go.

“All those that swore they would never live to see Biafra are all slowly leaving the stage. This proves that Biafra is imminent and 2020 is our year.”

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