Count us out of Uwazuruike’s romance with North —MASSOB

Awka— Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, yesterday, dissociated the group from the visit of the leader of the Biafra Independence Movement, BIM, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, to Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former chief security officer to the late head of state, General Sani Abacha, in Kaduna, saying Uwazuruike had lost the trust and confidence of Igbo people. In a statement in Awka, the MASSOB leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, said Uwazuruike was on his own because he was incapable of ensuring genuine representation of the people of Biafra on such a delicate matter. According to him, it was very shameful for the former MASSOB leader to claim to be speaking for Ndigbo after he lost the confidence of the people, describing Uwazuruike as a confused person. He said: “We have made it clear to the people of Biafra that there is nothing like MASSOB/BIM or BIM/ MASSOB. Our people should not allow themselves to be deceived by Uwazuruike’s antics. We are MASSOB, while Uwazuruike is BIM. “Uwazuruike’s visit to Kaduna for a meeting with our oppressors and enemies of Biafra that had been romancing with him since 2013, is another open evidence that he is not working for Ndigbo or Biafrans. “MASSOB advises members of BIM who  still believe  in genuine struggle for Biafra actualization and restoration to immediately leave Uwazuruike’s BIM now and rejoin MASSOB to regain their pride.” Madu also described as baseless, the allegation of Uwazuruike in Kaduna that he sacked the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from MASSOB, stressing that it was Nnamdi Kanu that left him when he found out that Uwazuruike was not sincere with the actualization of Biafra. Insisting that Kanu had been positively consistent in championing the Biafra cause, Madu alleged that Arewa groups were using Uwazuruike for media propaganda and to create a confusion among Ndigbo. Leave us out of Biafra agitation —Igala Meantime, the Igala people of Kogi East senatorial axis have called on IPOB and other Biafra agitators to leave them out of their quest for Biafra Republic. The Igala people under the aegis of Igala Social Cultural Group (the central umbrella of Igala people) also expressed deep anger that the Biafra agitators did not only mention them but included them  in their map. Anchor person of the group, Barry Idakwo, during a press briefing yesterday in Lokoja lamented that the inclusion of Igala communities in the Biafra agitation and map was an attempt to balkanize the ancient Igala nation, saying the Igala people do not want to be part of Biafra. Idakwo said: “The present Biafra agitation, that included Igala people, is not only provocative but very insulting to the Igala people. The agitators for Biafra have marginalisation as the main plan for their grievances. It is, therefore, unthinkable to annex the Igala kingdom without consulting us. “It is against the spirit of fairness, sovereignty, equity, peaceful cohabitation and democracy to falsely claim that Igala kingdom, which was never defeated in any war, was part of Biafra. “We, therefore, state in very clear and unequivocal terms that Igala ethnic nationality is not part of Biafra. We hold the unity, oneness and indivisibility of Nigeria sacrosanct and we believe that every Nigerian citizen has the constitutional right to freely live wherever such an individual or group chooses within the ambit of our laws and in the interests of peace and security.” “We urge our Igbo brothers to engage the Nigeria nation more purposefully for quality governance rather than agitations for separatist state. Equally, the Northern Youths should embrace the oneness of Nigeria as a nation.”