•This is not the time for Biafra-Cleric

From our correspondents

Irked by the alleged killings of some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday by military men, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has warned the Federal Government not to push Ndigbo to the wall as the consequence would be grave.
MASSOB leader, Comrade Uche Madu who handed down the warning said though MASSOB was not part of the protest as he had directed through a statement that his members should stay indoors and celebrate this year’s Biafra Day anniversary quietly, it was unacceptable for government “to have sent its military to open fire on and kill armless protesters and innocent people.
Madu said should Ndigbo be pushed to the wall and the people forced to rise in arms, the entire nation would be in flames.
Also reacting, National Publicity Secretary of Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dede-Uzor-Dede, described the action of the security personnel as unfortunate. He called on the Federal Government to arrest those involved in the killings of the harmless youths with a view to bringing them to justice.
In his own reaction, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka (Ogirishi Ndigbo), described the situation as unfortunate and noted that when he was contacted by the group about the peaceful protest, he advised them to use his Rojenny stadium instead of the streets. He added that they told him that they had secured a place at Nkpor to mark Biafra Day.
In Delta State, protesters told newsmen that they decided to embark on the protest in remembrance of the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, who initiated the struggle 49 years ago.
Meanwhile, a Lagos-based founder of Paradise Ministry, Pastor Kingsley Ebirim has said agitation for Biafra Republic will yield no result. He, however, acknowledged that the country is already existing in the spirit realm.  The Imo State-born pastor said God revealed to him that efforts to actualise the dream now by agitators will only result in a fruitless exercise.
The pastor pointed out that if Nigeria will be in the condition God revealed to him with no part of the country being out by 2048, then those clamouring for the Sovereign State of Biafra now will have to exercise patience.
He, however, called on his kinsmen and other people in the South East and South South regions to be prayerful.
He said: “If our people had prayed before embarking on the agitation for Biafra in 1967 God would have revealed to them that the time for it has not yet come and all those perished in the war would have not died just like that…”