The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra on Monday replied the leaders of the South-East chapter of the All Progressives Congress, who advised pro-Biafra groups in the zone to forget the struggle for the secession of Biafra.
MASSOB said it would not abandon the struggle. It urged the Igbo and the members of the other ethnic nationalities in the South-East to disregard the advice of the Igbo APC chieftains.
In a communiqué issued after a meeting in Enugu on Friday, the leaders of the South-East zone of the APC urged MASSOB and other pro-Biafra groups to have a ‘rethink’ and give up the struggle for the actualisation of an independent state of Biafra.
“We call on all the groups agitating for separation from Nigeria, particularly the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra to rethink and abandon the idea, and join other ethnic groups in building a formidable Nigeria where all Nigerians will be equally treated in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the South-East APC leaders said in the communiqué.
Notable Igbo politicians at the South-East APC meeting, where the pro-Biafra groups were advised to forget the struggle, included the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige; a former Governor of the old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo; a former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu; and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Agunwa Anakwe.
Others were senators Emma Agboti, Chris Adighije, Nkechi Nwogu, Ifeanyi Ararume, Nweke Gbazuagu, a former Imo State House of Assembly Speaker, Benjamin Uwajumogu; Osita Izunaso, George Muoghalu, and Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu.
Reacting, MASSOB, which spoke through its National Director of Information, Samuel Edeson, said the South-East APC leaders were only after their personal interests.
“MASSOB wishes to reply the South-East APC over the call on MASSOB/IPOB to abandon the idea of agitating for the independence of Biafra and to join them in building Nigeria.
“MASSOB is calling on the Ndigbo and all ‘Biafrans’ to disregard these Abuja politicians who have no conscience. All they are interested in are their personal interests,” Edeson said.
MASSOB wondered why the politicians had not spoken out against the murderous activities of Fulani herdsmen in the South-East.
Edeson alleged that most of the South-East APC leaders ‘did not do anything for the Igbos’ while they held key federal positions in previous administrations under the Peoples Democratic Party.
“None of them can beat his chest boldly and say that this is what I have done for the Ndigbo. While calling MASSOB and IPOB to drop the Biafra agenda, they left Fulani herdsmen that have been killing our people, raping our women and destroying our farmland at will.
“We will no longer allow these Abuja politicians to come to Igboland and deceive our people in the name of fighting for Igbo presidency. None of these men who claimed to be heavyweight politicians has ever challenged the evil done to our people.
“The Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, all the federal roads and railway lines in the South-East are deathtraps.
“They have never for one day spoken against the abandoned projects in Igboland. They have now run to APC where their sins will be covered,” Edeson added.
The MASSOB spokesman also alleged that the Department of State Services was being used against the critics of the Federal Government.
