Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, says his late mother, Ugoeze Sally Nmeme Kanu, who reportedly died on August 30 in Germany, was “sacrificed” for the restoration of Biafra.
Kanu said his mother, who passed on at the age of 67 supposedly from the trauma she faced during the attack on their Afaraukwu home in Umuahia by soldiers on Operation Python Dance in September, 2017, was a lover of Biafra and worked with IPOB to see the cause to its present stage.
Related: IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu loses mother, blames army
The Biafran separatist leader, who described his mother as a generous woman that saw IPOB as her own family, assured that though she died in the course of the struggle, IPOB would not relent until Biafra was restored.
Thanking people for their prayers, Kanu stated:
“We ask you to continue to pray for us as we also continue to pursue this noble effort to restore Biafra because that is the only way my mother could be honoured, that is the only way that she would want her memory to be honoured.
“We are going to march on relentlessly until Biafra is restored. I did say on numerous occasions that I will sacrifice everything sacrificiable to ensure that Biafra is restored and today I can tell you that my mother has been sacrificed in this very process and we are not stopping, we are not relenting.
“The most critical thing is Biafra, the most important issue facing us is Biafra and that is what we are focused on and that is what we will accomplish. And as I said earlier, that is the only way to respect her memory and to honour her.”
Speaking further on his mother’s demise he said, “Ugoeze Sally Nmeme Kanu died 10 days after her 67th birthday. Her death occurred around 10:30 pm on 30th of August 2019 in Lansberg Am Lech hospital near Munich in Bavaria after a protracted illness occasioned by the extreme shock and trauma of the deadly military invasion of her home under the guise of Operation Python Dance in September of 2017.
“She died of heart failure as a result of the incessant military attacks on her home. The trauma of the very brutal Operation Python Dance military invasion was the tipping point. As a peace loving and deeply compassionate mother, she never recovered from the shock of seeing 28 able bodied young men lying dead inside her compound following that invasion.
“Anybody who met my mother or had the unique privilege of made her acquaintance will testify to her generosity but above all her devotion and love for Biafra. Not just for Biafra as a project, but for all. She saw IPOB as her family and did everything she could to ensure that this very struggle is where it is today.
“We thank each and every person, every group and every association that have made gestures towards us and have recognized that there is need for us to work together at this very difficult period to ensure that Biafra is restored, we commend all your efforts.
“And for Biafrans all over the world, this effort to restore Biafra continues, it is not going to stop, like I said my mother died on 30th of August, way before my trip to the EU, way before my visit to the UN in Geneva, way before my visit and travel to Japan, but we have continued to move on and we shall continue to move on and we pray for the repose of her soul in the bosom of Chukwu Okike Abiama purum ihe nile, who we know will keep her and from there she will watch over Biafra and in our time Biafra shall come.”