By Phil Okose Onistha
The leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB,, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, at the weekend, in a virtual meeting organised by the Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organisations, UNPO, for member-states in Nigeria, urged the United Nations to expose the atrocities he said have been perpetrated by the federal government of Nigeria against his members.
Uwazuruike, who was represented at the meeting by another member of the organisation, Elder Chris Mocha, said he expected the world body to look into the evidence of atrocities committed by the Nigerian government against the people of Biafra from 1960 till the present time.
He hinted that a report on such atrocities had, since September 2020, been forwarded by MASSOB to UNPO office.
Recall that UNPO is one of the organs of the United Nations and the virtual meeting was attended by member-states in southern Nigeria including Biafra, Oduduwa and movement for the survival of Ogoni people, MOSOP.
The meeting, which had the UNPO head, legal team, Mr. Ralph Bunche, as the moderator, was convened to know the problems of each UNPO member-state and fashion out ways they could work together.
Mocha explained that there was nothing much to say here at the conference that the Biafran leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, had not said in the past regarding the actualisation of Biafra as a separate state from Nigeria, adding that Biafra’s case against Nigeria was clear and could never be wished away.
“My name is Elder Chris Mocha, I represent Chief Ralph Uwazuruike from the state of Biafra. There is nothing much for me to say here at this conference that the Biafran leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike has not said in the past regarding Biafra’s Independence from Nigeria”
“We expect the United Nations, UN to look into our case and do justice to our factual evidence of the atrocities committed by the Nigerian state against the people of Biafra from 1960 till the present time; a report which BIM-MASSOB forwarded to your office september last year”
“Our case against Nigerua is a special case and can not be wished away”.
“We are looking forward that when UN grants our request and free the state of Biafra of a population of over 50 million people and who are majority Christians, lives and properties of our people will be protected.”
He stated further that it was on record that the world and its United Nations, UN had encouraged and supported people’s exercising their right of self-determination in contemporary times with acts of active help and participation in order to see the process through to consummation stressing, “there are obvious examples of this practice in Europe and the United States of America.”
“Our people of Biafra have been treated differently. Is it because we are blacks? Uwazuruike queried.
“We are graciously expecting an even-handed response by the United Nations in the case of Biafra, a response which should not amount to double standards, one set of standards for Europe and America, another one for the West Africa sub-region,” he concluded.