…Igbo women worldwide conduct mass burial, mourn victims in Anambra
From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka and Obinna Odogwu, Ekwulobia
Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said nobody can crush Biafra.
MASSOB said this in reaction to President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable.
The group said the President has not realised that a new trend of conflict resolution was on board.
President Buhari had, while receiving some people who paid him Sallah homage at Aso Rock quoted former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon’s stand during the Nigeria-Biafra war that the task of keeping Nigeria as one united entity was a task that must be done.
But, in a swift reaction yesterday, MASSOB leader, Mr. Uchenna Madu said the movement disagreed with President Buhari.
Madu said putting northerners at the helm of affairs in the military and other areas does not mean that Biafra can be crushed.
“As every revolutionary struggle has its own methodology, the current Biafran struggle for actualisation and restoration will continue to unfold…”
Madu noted that some of the decisions of the present administration in Nigeria were justifying and assisting the struggle for the actualisation of Biafra and stressed that the consciousness of Christians in the Southern and Middle Belt had been reawakened by such decisions and actions.
Meanwhile, Igbo women worldwide, under the aegis of Ogbako Umuokpu Igbonine, yesterday, conducted a traditional mass burial for those reportedly killed during the Biafra Day celebration in May at Nkpor, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The event which held at the open premises of Eke Nkpor Market roundabout in Nkpor community where the victims were reportedly killed, saw many women in attendance including the representatives of the seven Igbo speaking states of Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Delta and Rivers.
Market women and shop owners around the vicinity also closed shop during the ceremony to honour the departed souls.
To symbolise the event, a white coffin draped with black piece of cloth and 178 black shirts were buried at Nkpor Cemetery after 21 gun salutes were shut according to Igbo traditional rites.
In her sermon, Pastor Precious Madu, of the Divine Nature Assembly Church, Amawbia regretted that security operatives showed no regard for the sanctity of human life while handling the Biafra Day celebrants.
She pointed out that if security agents had done the needful, the killings could have been avoided.
This was even as she prayed God to cleanse Igboland smeared with innocent blood.
“It appeared as though they killed cockroaches and not human beings,” she regretted.
President of Umuokpu Igbonine, Lolo Chika Ibeneme prayed for the peaceful repose of the victims andcalled on the United Nations and other relevant international organisations to ensure that justice is served.
“We want Nigerian President, Buhari to continue to make similar statements of this kind which always expresses his frustrations. Any king who thinks like Pharaoh of Egypt against the Jews will certainly experience the doom of Pharaoh. No man born of a woman can crush Biafra because God, History and Humanities are on our side, Biafra revolution cannot be destroyed.”
