The founder of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has said that the group deserved accolades for going about its demand for an independent Biafran nation in a nonviolent manner.
Uwazuruike made this known in a Friday statement through the group’s National Director of Information, Sunday Okereafor.
According to the statement, Uwazuruike spoke ahead of MASSOB’s 19th-year anniversary celebration.
He disclosed that the celebration, which is billed to hold on September 13, 2018 in all the zones of MASSOB in the entire Southeastern and South southern states, would be nonviolent.
Read Also: NBA Fiercely Tackles Buhari Over “National Security Vs Rule Of Law” Comment
Uwazuruike expressed happiness that the group had in the last 19 years been able to stay true to its ideal of nonviolent demand for Biafran independence despite crackdown by Nigeria’s security apparatuses.
The MASSOB founder said that the group’s peaceful celebration was aimed at showing the world that nonviolence was the most lethal weapon to fight a common enemy like Nigeria.
He expressed confidence that an independent Biafra would soon be a reality.
“Kudos to MASSOB to have kept the struggle without violence for 19 years now. The Igbo nations should expect Biafra without gunshot. I want to assure all of them agitating for Biafra and entire Biafran land that the much-coveted Biafra Republic is at our doorstep,” he said.
However, he advised the military to cease frequent crackdown on peaceful Igbo agitators and concentrate its energy on combating security challenges in the Northern regions where Nigerians are being murdered daily.
Uwazuruike also singled out attack on MASSOB members and office at Nworieubi in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State for condemnation.
He stated, “It is a shame to Nigeria’s military that the non- violent MASSOB freedom fighters are always attacked , leaving their protection of territorial integrity of the country, the primary mandate for which they were established.”