This is the News Analysis segment of the Voice of Biafra International broadcasts

For December 11^th, 2004

Special Announcement, VOBI December 10 2004 raid of MASSOB compound.

We have learnt of the Nigeria SSS (State Security Service) raid ordered by General Obasanjo and conducted by armed Nigeria policemen and the SSS on the headquarters of MASSOB in Okwe, Onuimo, in Owerri which occurred on Friday, December 10, 2004 around noon during a general meeting of MASSOB members.

According to one source, the casualty report stands as follows:

Dead: 16 MASSOB members

Injured: 35 MASSOB members

Missing: 125 MASSOB

Ralph Uwazurike’s whereabouts are unknown

and from another source, 38 arrests.

The following are the names we have on record regarding this bloody event and yet another exercise of unnecessary and unjustified killing of unarmed Biafran civilians attending a peaceful meeting, perpetrated by Nigeria armed police and security forces, who are known to take orders directly from General Obasanjo.

General Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria: ordered the raid.

Mohammed Hassan: Commanding Police Officer for the raid.

Alex Amaechina: Commanding SSS Officer for the raid.

Chike Nwabuwa (ASP) the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Imo State who confirmed the raid.

The units involved:

Nigeria Police

Mobile Police

State Security Service (SSS)

Vehicles: Military trucks, 5 Peugot Station Wagons.

We are monitoring the situation.

Our response:

Nothing is going to stop us from actualizing Biafra. Neither bullets nor bullies can stop a moral initiative and existential imperative such as Biafra is.

We ask all Biafrans to show resolve, determination tenacity, and courage, because, there is no other choice and there is no other way to take care of this unpleasant, lingering existential predicament for Biafrans. If we do nothing, Nigeria will certainly kill us off—all of us—after first humiliating and dehumanizing us. This we have already witnessed, and are witnessing. We have to stand our ground now. We must stand our grand now—here and now. And, we stand our ground, no matter how long it takes and no matter what it takes to achieve Biafra. The cost may be high, and could be high. But the cost of doing nothing is total. There is no other way out. There is no other alternative. We take a stand here: on Biafra—nothing else, nothing less.

God give us courage.

You have heard the news; now, the analysis…

“My peoples and my nations shall not be sacrificed for the sake of preserving a worthless idea called Nigeria.” So speaketh the Lord. And so it is.

“The peoples and their nations must live and thrive, though the name and concept of Nigeria die. The peoples and their nations must not, and will not, be allowed to perish just to save a dying Nigeria.” So says the Lord.

Fellow Biafrans: Make haste to claim the promise of the word of God!

Before we touch on the activities of brave and courageous Biafrans all over the world, we must perform an analysis on the recent news that General Obasanjo has finally given in to the convocation of what we insist has to be a sovereign national conference (SNC). Everyone knows how much Obasanjo resisted the idea and agenda of such a conference, even though all well-meaning persons, intelligent individuals and persons with vision, understood the need for this conference; why, even common sense dictates the conference.

But, before anyone starts celebrating, look carefully at what Obasanjo wants as his version of SNC. It really falls short of what the people are demanding, while being stocked with typical Obasanjo’s preferences, doubletalk and rhetoric. First, Obasanjo handpicked a “committee” which is charged with producing an agenda (incidentally, already pre-defined by Obasanjo himself) for the confab.  Second, according to one news report:

“The committee’s work is again to determine what reforms are necessary to complement government’s reform programme being prosecuted under the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)…”

So, we already see a revealing linkage and the leprous finger of Obasanjo’s version of SNC with an already failed and ineffective typical Obasanjo government program called NEEDS—whatever that is.

By appointing a governor—one of the politicians who are part of the problem—as head of this committee, Obasanjo has already planted the seed of failure. By Obasanjo tying the conference to the lofty-sounding but true mockery of an economic policy, any hope that SNC will produce the desired result—which is permanently solving the fatal dysfunction of Nigeria—is gone. By pre-empting a real agenda with the boundaries which he places around the committee’s output, Obasanjo has, in his typical fashion, irredeemably messed up the promise of SNC.

This should not come as a surprise. Obasanjo never wanted SNC; he is only being compelled to call for one today by the only figures and influences he fears and respects—not the peoples suffering and dying in Nigeria; his constituency, not their leaders and representatives, but—Western World leaders. If Obasanjo succeeds in forcing his version of SNC through and down the throat of the peoples living and dying in Nigeria (just like he forced and enforced the rigged 2003 elections results on the peoples), Obasanjo can then go back and report to them that he has accomplished what they, the Western World leaders, asked him to do. What a shame!

Moreover, the best attempt at reconciliation and solving the root-problem that is Nigeria, which was done in good faith and will by the peoples suffering and dying in Nigeria, was the Oputa Commission inquiries. Up till today, the results have not been published. The manipulable Nigeria courts were used to seal the report without the possibility of release to the peoples; and Obasanjo and his government deliberately did not challenge and or fight that court decision, a decision that favored Babangida who took the case to court to stop the publication of the report. It is no secret that Babangida bankrolled both the 1999 and 2003 Obasanjo “selection” and “usurpation” respectively. Incidentally, Babangida today is already campaigning for and trying to buy his way into the Nigerian presidency come 2007.  What a farce! That the peoples suffering in Nigeria still tolerate and accommodate Babangida’s political ambitions is a sickening statement of moral turpitude on the part of the people.

The point is that Obasanjo is not a man who honors mutually agreed-upon decisions, especially those decisions which go against his erstwhile position, even though he says he accepts the decisions. How can anyone forget the ongoing execution of his policy of fuel price-increases, even though he had reached agreements several times in the past to roll back such increases, even when such agreements resulted from court rulings? General Obasanjo is not a man to be trusted, except to carry out his own original personal plans, irrespective of agreements and mutual decisions to the contrary. As such, the implementation of the outcome of even Obasanjo’s own version of SNC would be in serious doubt, considering his record.

For the record and for the avoidance of doubt, a meaningful conference is about a meeting of ethnic-nations to whom sovereignty belongs in the first place. At such a meeting, these sovereign nations, with mutual respect for one another and on equal footing, will decide on how to relate with one another according to the norms of international diplomatic rules and laws governing independent sovereign nations, and how to divide and take on the burdens of erstwhile Nigeria. It is a conference of the peoples of these ethnic-nations who will send in their own delegates and determine the agenda. The conference is a non-governmental function and a non-governmental activity. The only appropriate role for the government is to maintain a stable environment while the conference lasts, and to facilitate the implementation of the full terms and the decisions of the conference.  We of Biafra shall participate in such a true SNC; however, any deviation from this is merely a sham, and we shall not be part of it; we shall have no part of it. Recall the so-called “Peace Forum,” Obasanjo’s first sham attempt to organize a conference in order to preempt, and in the place of, a real SNC. It came to nought, a typically showy Obasanjo-run event but as usual, a complete waste of time, addressing no real issues, achieving nothing and solving nothing.

It is our hope that groups who have labored for SNC will reject anything but the real thing, to be organized, managed and run by the peoples, and not by Obasanjo and his government.

Moving on...

We hereby express our gratitude to Igbo and pro-Biafran groups in Canada who made sure that Tafa Balogun, the Nigeria Inspector General of Police, did not have an audience and did not receive an undeserved prize awarded by unscrupulous parochial hypocrites who make a mockery of truth and facts and justice by inviting Balogun to a function for “distinguished Africans.” The only things Balogun has distinguished himself in are: the murder, maiming, torture, indefinite detention (in spite of an occasional court order to the contrary) and destruction of the property of unarmed and innocent MASSOB members and other Biafrans; the brutal occupation and suppression of Biafraland and Biafrans; and the constant denial of civil and human rights of Biafrans in particular and poor Nigerians in general. We thank our Biafran activists for recommending the arrest of Balogun when he stepped foot on Canadian soil.

Our brothers and sisters in South Africa have also been doing a great job of sensitizing their hosts on the evil continuously being perpetrated on Biafrans by Nigeria. So in Germany.  Also, in Kiev. And, all over the world. We thank them all.

We are also witness to pro-Biafran activities of MASSOB and other pro-Biafran groups in African countries, especially West African countries. We understand that five Biafrans of MASSOB were repatriated by the government of Gambia. We urge the government of Gambia to apply moral judgment in her decisions concerning the activities and lives of our Biafran people living in their country. Just because Nigeria has deliberately remained an evil force against Biafrans should not compel the government and people of Gambia to act as such. We ask Biafrans living anywhere in the world, including Gambia and other West African countries, to abide by the laws of their host countries while they chose to domicile therein.  Even the exercise of their human and civil rights should be in accordance with the vehicles and facilities provided by the laws of their host countries. It is noteworthy that it is, in fact, the tradition and custom of Igbo and other Biafrans, to live in peace and harmony within the land and among the people in whose country we choose to domicile.

We know that Nigeria has been busy harassing all foreign embassies and foreign countries about Biafrans living there, trying to bully those countries into making life extremely difficult for the Biafrans. In many cases, Nigeria has used sheer intimidation and blackmail, going as far as, in one instance, sending Nigerian SSS members to foreign countries to attend private meetings between Biafrans and their foreign hosts. Often, Nigeria uses the threat of withholding Oil to bash some of these countries into submission, and in the midst of all this, the irony is missed—the irony that even the Oil belongs to Biafra, not Nigeria. Nigeria is going to fail—is failing—in this. One cannot stop a Spirit—the Spirit of Biafra. And, we are going to hold Nigeria responsible for any ill and or harm befalling any Biafrans abroad, whether in their host countries, or during and after repatriation from their host countries in these cases. We shall collect and publish the names of those personifying and executing the evil Nigerian policy against Biafrans. If Nigeria thinks that we are not serious, she should talk to Balogun about his recent experience in Canada.

Fellow Biafrans: it is a moral duty to resist and uproot repression, suppression, and enslavement of a nation and its individuals. We, Biafrans, did not make this law or establish this imperative. This is a cardinal rule of Nature, and a basic law of God; and human beings anywhere and everywhere react the same way to these immoral conditions. The divine life-force empowers, sustains and consoles the oppressed struggling to get away from the oppressor; such a force always wins in the end. We shall win, over Nigeria: we shall have Biafra because Biafra is established in the Book of Life.

Biafra alive! Because that’s how God intends it; God also intends for Biafrans to live—as Biafrans—in that land. Now, do your part.

That’s the news analysis for the week. Thank you.

God bless and keep Biafra, and you, until our next broadcast. Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) broadcast continues (http://www.biafraland.com/vobi.htm) with the summary of the News Analysis in Igbo language.

Ndi Biafra: anyi e kele e unu.

Nke a bu akuko nke anyi na a kpo News Analysis si na Voice of Biafra International radio di na Washington DC na ala Amerika na a bia ra unu na abali a.

Na mbido, anyi na e wetara unu okwu si na onu Chineke anyi na a si na Ya a gaghi e kwe ka okike Ya, nke unu dum bu, la na iyi site na ighi ihe ojo o ahu a na a kpo Nigeria. Chineke na e kwu si na Nigeria ga a nwu, ma na okike nke Chineke, nke bu unu dum, ga a di ndu, ma na e ri kwa ndu, bie kwa ogologo ndu. Nde Biafra: na ra kwa unu ihe Okwu Chineke kwere unu na nkwa.

Tupu anyi e kelee umu Biafra maka oru oma ha na a ru na ala ndi ozo, ka anyi tule e ihe akuko newspaper na e kwu maka ihe Obasanjo me re. Akuko na a si na Obasanjo si na ya e kwe la ugbua na nzuko ahu nke anyi na a kpo Sovereign National Conference (SNC) ga e nwe zi isi. Obasanjo e jiri la aka ya ghoputa ndi comitii nde ga e leba nzuko a anya.

Mana Obasanjo—anyi e nweghi ntukwasi-obi na ya, ma o wu na omume ya. Anyi ma na o nweghi mgbe Obasanjo jiri cho o nzuko a; nka mere ka anyi ghota na Obasanjo ga e ji aghuho mebisia nzuko a. Gi lerue kwa ya anya, gi a hu na Obasanjo e bido go i mebisi ihe nzuko a. Maka nzuko a wu nzuko nde Oha nde mba na ile a na a kpo, na okwu oyibo, “Ethnic Nations.” Owu nde mba ahu na oha ha kwesiri i zi ga nde ga a nochitara ha anya na nzuko a; o wughi Obasanjo ga a gho nde ga a ga ya; ihe a a wughi ihe govumenti ga e me; o wu ndi Oha ga e me ya. Aghugho Obasanjo a kwusighi na ebe a; Obasanjo ji kwara aghuho gwa ndi comitii ahu ihe ha ga a choputa mgbe ha e bidobeghi  ebido i ru oru comitii.

Unu e chefukwala na o wurugodu na e nwe e nzuko ahu, Obasanjo nwere ike si na o nweghi ihe ga e si na ya na puta. O wu o wughi otua ka o siri me e ihe achoputara na Oputa Commision? Rue ta, Obasanjo ju ru aju i weputa ederendere Oputa Commision a na a kpo “Report”—ya na Babangida. Isi okwu wu na onye obula tukwasiri Obasanjo obi di ka onye ji ngwere na odu.

Mara kwa unu, na cheta kwa unu, ihe anyi kwuru maka nzuko ya. O wuru ma e me ezigbo nzuko, ihe a ga e kwekorita na nzuko a wu na ndi mba na ile (Ethnic-Nations) ga e nwere onwe ha, chia kwa onwe ha; otu ahu, a ga e nwe Biafra, Odua, Arewa, na mba ndi ozo. Nigeria a gaghi a di kwa ozo.  Udi nzuko nke a ka anyi na a kwado.  Nzuko obula di iche na otu anyi siri kowa ya, anyi a gaghi a ga ya; anyi a gaghi a kwado ya.

Ka anyi ga zie ga kele e ndi Igbo na ndi Biafra ndi ozo ndi bi na obodo Canada maka mbge onye isi ndi polici Nigeria a na a kpo Tafa Balogun gara Canada, umuibe anyi nde a gara ngaari-iwe, jiri otua kwusi Balogun i bata na ebe o na a ga ikwu okwu—okwu ugha! Ndi Biafra rio kwara ndi Canada ka ha nwuru Balogun tinye ya na mpkoro maka ihe Balogun na ndi police di na okpuru Balogun mere na Anambra na na ebe ozo na ala Igbo-ala Biafra.

O wughi so o so na obodo Canada ka ndi Biafra na e me mmotu. Germany. South Africa. Kiev. Obodo ndi no na West Africa; na obodo ndi ozo. Anyi na e kele umuibe anyi ndi a nke ukwu u. Anyi gu ru na ndi obodo Gambia jidere ndi otu MASSOB mmadu ise na e me ngaari-iwe, we e chupu ha na ala Gambia, zi ghachi ha, nye ha na aka nde Nigeria. Anyi na a gwa ndi obodo Gambia ka ha le e kwa onwe ha anya na ime obi ha tupu ha e me e ihe obula gbasara ndi Biafra bi na ala ha. Anyi ma na o wu Nigeria na a gwa ha ka ha na eme udi ihe di otua, maka o wu otu Nigeria na e me na obodo na ile di na uwa a, na ihe gbasara MASSOB na Biafra. Anyi na kwa a gwa umu Biafra na ile bi na obodo ndi ozo ka ha na eso iwu ala ha bi na ya na oge na ile, maka o wu omenala ndi Igbo-ndi Biafra na anyi ga a sopuru iwu ndi obodo anyi bi na ime ya.

Anyi e were oghere a na a gwa ndi Nigeria na ihe obula mere ndi Biafra na ndi MASSOB ndi bi na mba ozo, o no ha wu ndi Nigeria na isi. Ha e chefukwa la ihe mere Balogun na obodo Canada.

Unu a mara la na o wu o ru onye obula i chu aru, we pu onwe ya ebe a na e me ya aru, ma o bu ebe a na e megbu onye ahu emegbu. Chineke, Chi anyi, choro ka anyi e kweghi la ka onye owula na e me anyi aru otua—ma o wu ihe owula na e meru anyi ahu, ma o wu na e gbu anyi, ma o wu na a gba anyi ohu—guzoro. Ike Chineke, Chi anyi, nonyere la anyi mgbe anyi na a chu aru di otua.

Ndi Biafra: o wu Chineke na Onwe Ya ke re ala Biafra, ke e kwa ndi Biafra, tinye ha na ala Biafra.  Nde Biafra, me e unu otu Chineke ke re unu.

Biafra, ndu gi! Biafra, ndu gi!! Biafra, ndu gi!!! Ma ka Chineke no nyere la gi!

Ndewo unu!

Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) broadcast continues
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