There is anxiety over the renewed agitation for Biafra by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
According to The Nation report, the tension is fuelled by the aggressive manner the agitators have been “brainwashing” young people to join the movement.
People are worried that if it is not curtailed, it may transform into another form of terrorism that would compound the problems Nigeria is facing such as kidnapping, armed robbery and other anti-social activities.
The pro-Biafra agitators have carried out a number of protests in the past one week.
An Igbo leader who spoke on the issue, said it is risky to openly talk about the Biafra group as you’ll be taken as enemy against their agitation.
“The truth is that there is nothing positive about what they are doing. They are opportunists and relevance- seeking people who are misleading unsuspecting youths to take to an unworthy cause,” he said.
Report has it that the pro-Biafra agitators have started recruiting young people to join the movement in various parts of the country.
This was confirmed by Ikedigwe Raphael, an IPOB coordinator in Lagos state.
He said: “IPOB is divided into groups A and B. Group A comprises Bayelsa, Rivers, Abia, Imo, Akwa-Ibom and Cross River, while group B comprises Anambra, Enugu, Delta and Ebonyi. We regard any other state, region or zone not captured in the aforementioned groups in the country as a zoo.
“The protests will continue until the director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, is released. Benjamin Onwuka of Biafran Zion Movement (BZM) and others currently arrested should also be released.”
Igbo traders and commercial motorcycle operators have been reportedly recruited in Lagos.
A commercial motorcycle operator disclosed that they were taught various songs during a training conducted by the leaders of the agitators.
“The high point of the protest will occur in December when we will travel home en masse to hold a mass protest. The arrangement is concluded and all we are waiting for is the right time to strike,” he stated.
Emeka Okafor, the zonal leader of MASSOB said that Ndigbo are fully aware of the implication of secessionist agitation, stressing that a pogrom is already taking place in the northern part of the country where he said Ndigbos are being targeted for mass killing.
According to two leading members of IPOB in Anambra state, Osita Amaechina and Obinna Remigus Ani, their interest was to actualise Biafra like Southern Sudan, Eritrea and others, which was the reason they were non-violent.
Speaking on Friday, November 13, the new defence minister, Monsur Dan-Ali said the pro-Biafra agitation in parts of the South-East may escalate and constitute a threat to national unity if it is not checked.
Meanwhile, Chief Godswill Akpabio, the Senate minority leader condemned the fresh agitation for the creation of the sovereign state of Biafra.
He called on parents and community leaders in the southeast and south-south regions of the country to ensure that they caution and educate their wards on the negative implication of their actions.
