An attempt by MASSOB members to celebrate the Biafrans Hereos Day and their 49th anniversary for the declaration of Biafra Republic suffered a setback as Ikom Youths agitated to stopped the rally.
Scores of the MASSOB members dressed in uniforms and carrying the Biafra flag, nonetheless conducted themselves peacefully, during the short street rally.
This Day reports that the zonal leader of MASSOB in the state, Mr. Samuel Okah, while addressing the protesters, said the rally was in commemoration of the 1967 declaration of the sovereign State of Biafra by its leader, Ojukwu. Okah said the peaceful rally was to send a message that even though Ojukwu did not succeeded in establishing a sovereign state through violent means, the dream of actualising a Biafran state could be achieved through non-violent means.
Okah, who said that Biafra encompasses the entire South-east and South-south regions of the country, added: “Cross River was in the old Eastern Region that fought for Biafra because we are all one and the suffering we are passing through is experienced by all people of the South-south and South-east so there is no separation or differences among us.” Okah urged President Muhammadu Buhari to listen to the agitators for a state of Biafra and allow them to form a country they can call their own.
But the Vice-President, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Prince Ayuk Ojong, described the rally as a flop, stating that he mobilised his members to stop the MASSOB members from using Ikom for their unpatriotic act. Ojong said Ikom Local Government Area was not part of Biafra, hence the stance of the youths of the area to stop the rally from gaining momentum.
