At 20th anniversary, MASSOB insists on Biafra

Igbo didn’t cause 1966 coup, says Iwuanyanwu
Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) said yesterday that realising independence for Biafra from Nigeria would end the numerous forms of slavery the Igbo suffer in the country.

Leader of MASSOB, Uchenna Madu, stated in Awgu, Enugu State, during the 20th anniversary celebration of the group, that there was no going back in the struggle for Biafra republic.MASSOB, he added, is committed to the quest for an independent state of Biafra stressing that true nationhood remained stillborn with peace, justice and equity taking flight because Ndigbo had been kept down.

“These undeniable realities are the reasons the Nigerian state is afraid of Biafra, which represents the truth they cannot legitimately counter.“Biafra speaks of the truth Nigeria know they are guilty of; so out of weakness, jittery and fear, Nigeria resorts to repression, persecution, killings and detention of Biafran agitators.

“MASSOB has resolved that 20 years of our long walk to freedom can never be jeopardised, compromised or corrupted. The reformation and rededication of our committed and consistent efforts in the actualisation of Biafra has brought back our lost confidence and trust on Biafra’s actualisation.

“MASSOB shall never relent in its non-violent Biafra struggle because the truth shall always prevail over falsehood,” he said.In a related vein, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has said that the Igbo were not the remote cause of the 1966 military coup that culminated in the Nigerian civil war.
Speaking at an event in Owerri, Imo State, at the weekend, the elder statesman and newspaper publisher said the Igbo were erroneously linked to the coup because of the unfavourable propaganda against them through the media.

He also accused foreign countries of joining to fight the Igbo when the war broke, stressing that though the Igbo controlled the country’s economic and education sector then, they lacked the political will to defend themselves.He said, “The coup that started the civil war was not caused by Igbo, but because they didn’t have the media, they were linked to it. People outside Igboland then controlled all media. “The propaganda was against the Igbo, who were projected as very greedy and over-ambitious.”