From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha

LEADER of Biafra In­dependence Movement (BIM), Chief Ralph Uwa­zuruike has said despite incarcerations and plots to clampdown on pro-Bi­afra agitators, the struggle for self-determination of Biafra state has continued to wax stronger by the day.

He recalled that several attempts on his life were made for him to abandon the struggle, saying rather than the struggle to die, it has increased and contin­ued to wax from strength to strength.

This was even as the Indigenous People of Bi­afra (IPOB) described the amalgamation of North­ern and Southern protec­torates by the British colo­nial masters as the worst mistake ever made.

Uwazuruike, who spoke through his Director of Information, Mr. Chris Mocha as part of activi­ties to mark the 17th an­niversary of MASSOB in September, attributed the successes recorded by the movement to God.

According to him, when MASSOB started in 1999 before it metamorphosed to BIM, nobody gave the group any chance of sur­vival as people felt that the clamour for the resuscita­tion of new Biafra would fizzle out the next day.

Uwazuruike lamented the killing of members from May 23, 2000 after his declaration of Biafra in Aba, Abia State, saying between May 23, 2000 and May 22, 2013, the group lost about 3,006 of its members even as un­recorded casualty figure may be close to this num­ber, yet the struggle has refused to die.

According to him, “they also destroyed my cars in Lagos and confiscated my 3 Sports Utility Vehicle, BMW motorcycle and a Yamaha generator, all in a bid for the former Imo State governor to win the heart of his Abuja political masters for a second term.

BIM’s leader alleged that because of his refusal to pay N5 million po­lice protection fee to the former director in Imo State, he was advised to leave the country and go on exile.

“But when I refused to go on exile, there were regular invasions of my residence and MASSOB secretariat by security agencies, yet the struggle refused to die.”

Uwazuruike, who de­cried the unprofessional conduct of Nigerian secu­rity agencies in managing separatist agitation, said the blood of the dead ac­tivists who died in active service have promoted the Biafra struggle because so many things promote a genuine agitations,” he stated.

IPOB which described the amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates by the Brit­ish colonial masters as a mistake, also condemned the incessant killing of Christians in northern Ni­geria and the attack by Fu­lani herdsmen disguised as cattle rearers on people in some states in Nigeria.

A statement by the Media and Publicity Of­ficer of IPOB, Mr. Emma Powerful said the most despicable moral crime in world history was com­mitted when Lord Lugard and his fellow ‘British’ de­cided to join the Southern and Northern protector­ates as one country.

“Hundreds of thou­sands of our people were massacred and their shops set ablaze,” he lamented.