Biafra: Police arrest 12 IPOB members for threatening Enugu traders over planned protest

The Enugu State Police Command on Monday arrested about 12 people alleged to be members of pro-Biafra group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, over threat to attack traders who refuse to join its coming protest.

A statement by the Commands spokesperson, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said the suspected IPOB members threatened to deal with any trader who opens for business from Tuesday, today, stressing that all traders must stay indoors in solidarity with the group.

IPOB had announced its plan to carry out a mass protest all over the world against the continued incarceration of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu on September 23 2016.

However, Amaraizu in the statement said, the suspects were apprehended while addressing traders in Ogbete Main Market in the state, adding that upon completion of investigation, they will be charged to court.

The statement reads, “No fewer than twelve suspected members of a group identified as indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) were on 19/9/16 in the afternoon nabbed by the security operatives of the Enugu state police command who acted on intelligence information gathered about the said group in relation to its activity.

“Suspects were nabbed inside the popular ogbete market of Enugu state as they allegedly went into the market with public address to threaten and inflict fears on the members of the public precisely the marketers not to come to market from 20/9/16 and that if anyone is seen that the person will be dealt with by the group. The operatives arrested the suspects as the alleged threat announcement was being carried out.

Amaraizu disclosed that items recovered from the suspects includes, “21 handsets of different types, various leaflets in which some of them reads thus: IPOB FOR THE BETTERMENT OF YOUR CHILDREN AND THAT OF YOURSELF, PLEASE SIT AT HOME ON 23/9/16,THERE WILL BE NO WORK,NO SCHOOL,NO BUSINESS,NO MARKET, FREE NNAMDI KANU, FREE BIAFRA, ALL HAIL BIAFRA.”

Other items recovered include, “flags suspected to be that of the group with their insignia, public address systems, one wireless microphone. Suspects are helping the operatives in their investigations and will soon be charged to court,” Amaraizu said.

The command, however, reiterates its determination to safeguard members of the state, saying anyone caught going against the law, “will be made to face the full wrath of the law.”

Biafra: Nobody or group can cow us,Uwazuruike warns

Leader of the Biafra Independence Movement (BIM), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, yesterday, declared  that nobody or group of persons can stop the actualisation of Biafra as an independent nation.
He likened the ‘Biafran people’s’ stay in the Nigerian-state to accepting slavery, corruption, poverty, marginalisation, inequality and instability.
Uwazuruike who spoke through his Director of information, Mr. Chris Mocha, maintained that granting Biafra independence would portend good omen for all the ethnic nationalities in the country.
“If I will not get Biafra, I wouldn’t have come out to start talking about it in the first place; and my purpose of studying non-violence method for years in India would have been defeated,” he added.
Going down memory lane, he recalled that he had in November 1999, internationalised the struggle, and applied to the then UN Secretary General, Mr. Koffi Anan,  that the people of Biafra, consisting of the five Igbo speaking states and with large populations in Rivers, Delta and Cross River states numbering about 40 million be admitted, registered or in the alternative be treated as an unregistered nation in any of the organs of the world body.
“I also wrote that the life and properties of Ndigbo be protected during and after the self-determination of Biafra and to dismantle all the toll-gates mounted on erosion devastated roads across South-East and Niger Delta areas,” he recounted.
“We are firm that Biafra can never be wished away.”
Uwazuruike who said Biafra was struggling to gain her independence from Nigeria through non-violence method, appealed to world leaders and all other peace- loving people of the free world not to look the other way while a grand conspiracy is being perpetrated against the Igbo.
He assured the international community that a sovereign Biafra will  uphold all the laws and conventions of the United Nations. The BIM stressed that it was not in the interest of Nigerians and the international community to have a prolonged civil war in which over two million innocent lives had been lost, saying that such war could have been avoided by granting self-rule to all the natural units in Nigeria of which Biafra is one.

‘Biafra’ is a Business Venture – MEND

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday de­scribed as scam the ac­tivities of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), stressing that the ‘Biafra republic’ struggle was a mere business venture to deceive the people of the South East.

A statement released by the Spokesperson of the group, Jomo Gbo­mo, on Monday dis­closed that IPOB Lead­er, Nnamdi Kanu, has agreed secretly to re­nounce his involvement in the Biafra struggle in exchange for his free­dom from prison.

It disclosed further that the Federal Gov­ernment and MEND want Kanu to prove his sincerity by publicly renouncing his mem­bership of the seces­sionist struggle as part of efforts to resolve the Niger Delta militancy which has wreaked hav­oc on oil facilities.

MEND’s statement reads, “The attention of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has been drawn to the recent spate of hypo­critical and provocative statements issued by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, which purport to disso­ciate IPOB/Kanu from some of the concessions which have so far been secured by MEND in the ongoing talks aimed at resolving the current Niger Delta crisis be­tween the Federal Gov­ernment and MEND.

“MEND hereby uses this opportunity to in­form the entire world that following the group’s ongoing nego­tiations with the Federal Government, Nnamdi Kanu has made it clear that he is willing to re­nounce Biafra in secret in exchange for his free­dom.

“MEND and the Fed­eral Government have however, flatly rejected the IPOB/Kanu hypoc­risy to remain defiant in public while accepting to secretly renounce se­cession.”

Biafra’s Technological Advances untapped by Nigeria – Garba Shehu

The presidency has said that it is committed to reinventing a new and prosperous Nigeria  through an article by the senior special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, “In Defence of President Buhari: Is This The Change We Voted For? Yes, It Is!” He said that Buhari’s critics had already forgotten the ruinous years of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

“When they ask the question, is this the change we voted for, the critic forgets how far we have come from the scam-tainted years of the PDP rule. “Unfair criticism of the Buhari administration especially on account of escalating prices of foodstuff and the liberalization of the currency exchange needs to be challenged before it overshadows the commendable job the President has done in fighting terrorism as part of overall effort to secure the country, reducing corruption and yes, arresting the economic slide before it sinks the nation.”

“It is a proud moment for many citizens that the country is being perceived differently now that it has a different kind of leader creating a positive buss abroad, the kind of sentiment that can lead to foreign investments when properly capitalized upon. “Wherever they go these days, in London, Dubai, Beijing, Washington, New York or Tokyo, Nigerians get the good feeling of being asked the question, how is President Muhammadu Buhari?” “How many people have given a thought to the possibility of Nigeria doing something that the combined strength of Europe and America have failed to do? “There are many today who take for granted the declared victory over the Boko Haram terrorists, forgetting the reign of the bomber who made it almost impossible for regular attendance in Churches and Mosques in many of our cities, including the Federal Capital City, Abuja. “Victory over Boko Haram has brought peace not only to Nigeria but to the countries in the Lake Chad region”.

 “When he first emerged as the military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari saw oil price, the mainstay of the nation’s economy sank to as low eight Dollars a barrel. “He rolled up his sleeves, worked on diversification strategy of the economy only to be eased out of power just as they began to take hold.

“On his second coming, this time as a democratically elected leader, the collapse of oil prices has challenged President Buhari to quicken efforts towards the diversification of the economy with emphasis given to agriculture and solid minerals mining. “Every crisis, it is said, is an opportunity. Not so in Nigeria.

This is a country that inherited massive technological inventions from Biafra, yet failed to take it forward. We must not lose this opportunity to diversify the economy and our foreign earnings presented by the present oil crisis.

“As the country hopes for a bumper harvest this year, government is taking steps to ensure that no farmer will sell at a loss or fail to find markets for their harvests. Grain silos are being readied nationwide to receive excess produce for warehousing to ensure food security, avert market glut and price collapse. By this, government will ensure a minimum guaranteed price”, Shehu stressed.