Calls For Separation increases In Nigeria After COVID-19 partial lock-down relaxation

Calls For Separation increases In Nigeria After COVID-19 partial lock-down relaxation  IPOB rally in Imo state : Picture shared by Tamun...

Calls For Separation increases In Nigeria After COVID-19 partial lock-down relaxation 

IPOB rally in Imo state : Picture shared by Tamunokuro Kialo

By Mactrue Nicholas

NIGERIA: Just days after the announcement of a partial relaxation of the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria is seeing a rise in calls for separation.

Members of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB today, took to the streets of Imo state in the Eastern region of the country, calling for the restoration of the state of Biafra. Call for an independent Biafra has been a phenomenal aspiration to the people of that region.

A social media user and our reader " Tamunokuro Kialo" shared a live video of the protests showing a large number of young and old participants holding up "Biafran, American and Israeli flags", chanting "freedom songs".

Biafra had in 1967-70, gone to war with Nigeria in a failed attempt to separate from Nigeria. The Biafrans led by the now late warlord, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu were said to have gone into the war after attempts for a peaceful separation failed.

The aftermath of the war was the loss of about 3 million Biafran people who had suffered aid blockade imposed on the region by the Nigerian federal troop led by Jack Gowon, the then Head of State of Nigeria.

The people of the Eastern region, who seek the restoration of an independent Biafra are said to be marginalized by successive governments in Nigeria (and the government sponsored decimation of the Christians in the country), giving rise to the calls for separation.

The present protesters are calling for referendum for the people of the region who are mostly Christian and Jewish Adherents. The Indigenous people Of Biafra, IPOB is led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a man in his early 50s. The organization is at the forefront of the calls for the Biafran independence.

Nigeria had at different times lunched armed attacks on the protesters, and in most cases, killed them extrajudicially. But, despite the force applied by the country's leadership, the agitations have only grown to new heights.