Biafra: Be Consciously At Alert!

 Biafra: Be Consciously At Alert! The enemies do not sleep! The name, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), truly conveys the idea that the Bi...

 Biafra: Be Consciously At Alert!

The enemies do not sleep! The name, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), truly conveys the idea that the Biafran territories comprise of a number of distinct ethnic nationalities which share a common value system and have interacted with each other within their established organic borders long before colonialism. Hence, it is common to hear IPOB members address themselves as ‘one family’. The ethnic nationalities agitating for the Biafran Republic include Annang, Efik, Ejagham, Ekoi, Esan, Etsako, Ibibio, Idoma, Igala, Igbo, Igede, Igodomigodo, Ijaw, Isoko, Itsekiri, Ogoni, Oron, Owan, Urhobo, etc, all of which fall into the Nigerian States of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Kogi, Imo and Rivers. 

Following the Biafran genocide which resulted in the deaths of over five million civilians including children starved to death, nothing about the plight of Biafrans have changed. The marginalization, nepotism, extra-judicial killings, ethnic cleansing and other forms of social injustice yet remain state-sponsored. These are what led to the Biafran genocide and are still very much at play today. Resistance to oppression is natural and Biafrans reserve the right to resist and protest tyranny. 

Exactly a year ago, Nigerian youths took to the streets in protests against police brutality. Tagged #EndSARS, the protests swept through every major city in Nigeria, but for some inexplicable reasons, the Nigerian government perceived the peaceful protests to be some brazen acts of rebellion that must be crushed with brutal force. On the night of 20th October 2020, men of the Nigerian army committed a most unsettling act of terror by opening fire on the crowd of protesters occupying the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos. The question still remains whether or not the Nigerian state is a cover for some other sinister agenda which the citizens are not aware of. 

The Lekki Massacre is one of the many acts of terror which the Nigerian armed forces have unleashed on the innocent indigenous communities. But with the massacre during that event, the days that followed saw coordinated attacks on military checkpoints and police facilities by armed men whom the media quickly ascribed to as ‘Unknown Gunmen’. So far, nothing about the identity or the agenda of this militant group is known, as they have no political wing nor has bbeen identified with any. Perhaps they are band of youths fed up with police and army brutalities and are therefore, taking to the option of violence since peaceful resolution of social issues have been outlawed and rendered impossible. 

But then, it will not be out of place to say that the ‘Unknown Gunmen’  have been in existence since the formation of Nigeria. The award winning musician, late Fela Anikolakpo Kuti sang about it when he listed them out in their categories as unknown soldiers, unknown police, unknown civilians, unknown students and the unknown government. In his song, he mentioned that the regular trademark of these unknown gunmen is sorrow, tears and blood and that they carried it wherever they went. They visit anyone who speaks up against the ills of the government and leaving such with sorrow, tears and blood. Ask Fela Anikolakpo Kuti, Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho and El-Zakzaki etc. 

It is not uncommon to see Nigerian soldiers and policemen wearing masks in broad daylight and how they blatantly spill blood without consideration. They even boast openly that they could killing anyone and earn promotions for the act. The people are presently witnessing sorrow, tears and bloodletting wherever any of the categories of these unknown gunmen appear. 

Buhari who played an active role in the genocide Nigeria committed against Biafran between 1967 and 1970, is now trying to use the compromised media to demonize Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB for dislodging the Fulani Islamic killers in the forests of the old Eastern region. Let us not forget that it is the same Fulani killers that have massacred and sacked whole communities in Benue State and in other parts of Middle Belt region. 

These Fulanis whom also the Nigerian government have admitted not being indigenous in Nigeria, impose themselves on Biafran forests through Buhari government's support, from which they comfortably plan and launch attacks on unsuspecting rural communities in Biafraland.

It is worrisome that the media shies away from the truth as directed sometimes by the ministry of communication. 

And to achieve this, the media has chosen to finger IPOB for the activities of the unknown gunmen, even though they agree that their identity remains ‘unknown’. Now, any sane person has to ask; since you say that the men are unknown, why then identify them as being IPOB? The disgusting wonders of Nigeria intellectualism! 

IPOB remains peaceful and unarmed in its agitation for the restoration of Biafra. It is legally represented in more than 88 countries of the world. For its peaceful cconduct in rallies and protests, it has earned for itself, "the most peaceful mass movement in global history". 

IPOB will never descend to involving itself with any unknown or violent group. It does have an armed wing which is the Eastern Security Network (ESN), stationed in the forests and explicitly concerned with making the forests within Biafraland, free of the marauding Fulani terrorists masquerading as cattle herders. The ESN has been exceedingly successful in their task such that in our time, our people have not gone the way of communities in the Middle Belt which have been sacked and displaced by the Fulani Islamic terrorists. 

Written by Cindy Etuk

Edited by Emma Iwu

For Family Writers Press International.

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