Civil war didn’t heal Igbo wounds, says MASSOB

 
The Movement for the Actualisation Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said the Civil War did not solve the nation’s problems.

The group said the war was fought because of alleged marginalisation, massacre, inequality and injustice to the Igbo nation.

MASSOB, which is preparing to celebrate its 17th anniversary, said the three-year war did not address the issues bedevilling the country, even several after the war ended.

Addressing reporters in Umuahia, the state capital, MASSOB-BIM Zonal Information Director Anselm Ogbonna said the movement would continue with its non-violent posture until its objective was actualised.

Ogbonna said: ”May 30, 1967 (Biafra declaration date) and September 13, 1999 (Biafra resuscitation date through nonviolence, non-exodus struggle) are the two major dates which are very vital in the history of Biafra.

“After the declarations of ‘no victor, no vanquish’ by (the then Head of State) General Yakubu Gowon on January 1, 1970, Biafra and Nigeria began existing as a nation under one Nigeria. Still, those problems of marginalisation, unprovoked massacre, inequality, injustice, among others, are still strong against the Ndigbo in Nigeria.

“This struggle will be 17 years on September 13. MASSOB wishes to celebrate the 17th year anniversary of its existence through non-violence.

“MASSOB wants to use the anniversary to tell the world that we are the Biafra drum beaters. We are the beams that produce the light for others to follow.

“We are not MASSOB on the Internet or on the pages of newspapers.

“Other splinter groups emanated from us because before September 13, 1999, no other person or group from the Southeast or Southsouth was talking about Biafra. We want to show the world that we have maintained our non-violence, non-exodus agreement.

“We want to show people that the September 13, 1999 agreement with the United Nation (UN) guaranteed us to speak from our various regional and zonal offices rather than from a hideout. September 13 had warranted us to speak for our freedom from Nigeria.”

Ogbonna said the agreement prompted Chief Ralph Uwazuruike to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UN at its secretariat in New York on September 13, 1999, that he would actualise Biafra through non-violence, non-exodus through MASSOB.

He said: “Uwazuruike single-handedly formed MASSOB and started the crusade to actualise Biafra through non-violence and non-exodus. But politicians misinterpreted him and called him all sorts of negative name.

“They persecuted him to see if he could derail from his non-violence agenda. Still, Uwazuruike wasn’t derailed. Even amidst his persecutions, he achieved events that shocked his persecutors.

“These included the relocation of the wounded and abandoned Biafra soldiers from Oji River to Onuimo and the preparation of tombs for Biafra’s fallen heroes.

“He equally immortalised the Biafra people’s General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in Owerri, Imo State, with the Ojukwu Memorial Library, among others.”

Ogbonna added that MASSOB under Uwazuruike built structures, which indicated that he was determined to actualise Biafra.