The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has called on the president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) while his trial continues.
On May 30, 2023, MASSOB marked the 56th anniversary of the Biafra Declaration by General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the former-president of the Republic of Biafra, and used the occasion to make the plea.
MASSOB leader, Uchenna Madu, released a statement in which he remembered and celebrated the sacrifices of gallant soldiers of Biafra. He called on President Tinubu to release Kanu as his incarceration is perceived to be aggravating the situation and making it increasingly difficult to control IPOB members.
The statement reads: “Today, we remembered, celebrated, and commemorated the sacrifices our gallant soldiers of Biafra made for our freedom. MASSOB remembered the pains, anguish, hunger, subjections, mesmerization, and supreme prices our fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters paid for Biafra’s freedom.
“We shall continue to remember them because their sufferings always provoke and revive our unshakeable and undeterred zeal and commitment to the self-determination of Biafra.
“The new struggle for self-determination and the restoration of Biafra, anchored by MASSOB and others, is grounded on the principle of non-violence.
“Today, all over the world, MASSOB members are engaging in sober reflection as we remember the brutalities, persecutions, mesmerization, traumatic torture, extrajudicial killings, afflictions, imprisonment, and traumatic deaths at the hands of the security agents of Nigeria.
“The more the freedom fighters are politically incarcerated, the more they are hardened, and the more the followers become uncontrollable.
“MASSOB demands the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, from President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, who once declared that he does not believe in Nigeria.
“MASSOB expresses its gratitude to the people of Biafra for their eloquent observation of today’s Biafra Day anniversary celebration.”
