Founder of the Biafra Independence Movement (BIM) and Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike has disclosed that he promised the late warlord Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and the United Nations (UN) that people of the region would not engage in violence in their quest to have a separate nation.
He reiterated that residents of the South-East will not take up arms in their pursuit of actualising the sovereign nation of Biafra.
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Uwazuruike assured that the people of the region were committed to a non-violent approach to breaking away from Nigeria.
Uwazuruike’s remark was contained in a statement signed by BIM’s Director of Information, Elder Chris Mocha.
He implored Nigerians to disregard allusions to the possibility of an impending war with Nigeria.
The statement reads, “We remain fully committed to our peaceful approach towards the actualisation of Biafra independence. Biafrans won’t fight another civil war with Nigeria, despite the level of provocation. We are very positive that we will reach the promised land without firing a gunshot.
“We advise that such insinuations should be outrightly dismissed because it is fake. We however insist on the genuineness of our organisation’s position and commitment to actualise Biafra without firing a gunshot.
“The founder of MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike promised Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu that the new Biafra struggle for independence will not cause another war in the country.
“We shall achieve our new nation where the free gift of nature to man, abundant natural resources in our land, shall be used to improve the life of man. The second Biafra-Nigeria civil war began on May 22, 2000, shortly after the re-declaration of the New Biafra, based on non-violence and non-exodus philosophy.
“Having also assured the United Nations, UN, in the Biafra Bill of Rights, which was submitted on November 1, 1999, our leader promised that MASSOB shall remain peaceful in the course of its agitation for Biafran sovereignty.
“Therefore any politician or group, sponsoring or inciting violence or calling for war in Nigeria, is on their own because Biafra fought a fratricidal war between 1967 and 1970 and the region is not prepared for another war of arms.”