Obasanjo Tried to Bribe Us With Bags of Money - MASSOB

Pro-Biafra protesters in the South-East of Nigeria

 

The latest news has it that the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, on Monday, replied former president Olusegun Obasanjo and told him that “Biafra is not dead and will never die”. The group accused Obasanjo of committing crimes against humanity and promised to drag him to the International Court of Justice soon. 

 

We also gathered that the group alleged that Obasanjo tried to bribe them with bags of Ghana-must-go filled with money after their erstwhile leader, Ralph Uwazurike was incarcerated in prison because he wanted them to abandon Uwazurike but they refused. The group further that Obasanjo should have no face to talk about Nigeria as he was instrumental in bringing the nation to this abysmal state.

 

It would be recalled that Obasanjo, while presenting a paper entitled: “Resurgent Biafra Agitation: Born in Error, Ignorance and Frustration,” at a public discussion on Biafra, organised by Nextier Advisory in Abuja, on January 15, had said Biafra was a dead issue. 

 

Obasanjo had said, “No right-thinking person who has experienced the horror of war will ever agitate for more war.

“Nigeria cannot afford to go from Boko Haram insurgency to any other insurgency under any guise.

“And on no account should we wittingly or unwittingly allow this to happen again.”

 

Reacting to the comment, MASSOB, through its Director of Information, Comrade Samuel Edeson, said Biafra was not dead, and would never die. In a statement made available to our correspondent in Enugu, the MASSOB spokesman noted that Obasanjo had tried to destroy the pro-Biafra group in the past, during his time as the country’s president.

 

Edeson revealed that the struggle for the actualization of Biafra survived, despite persecution masterminded by Obasanjo’s administration, including the killing of about 1000 MASSOB members at Umulolo, Okigwe, in Imo State, on March 29, 2003 will be successful. He said the pro-Biafra group would drag Obasanjo to the International Criminal Court for the alleged killings.

 

Edeson said, “MASSOB wishes to reply Obasanjo that Biafra is not dead and will never die.

“Obasanjo should have known that after killing over 1000 MASSOB members at Umulolo, Okigwe, in Imo State on March 29, 2003, which he masterminded through Achike Udenwa, then governor of Imo State.

“The killing of MASSOB members in Onitsha, Anambra State in 2006/2007, and detention of MASSOB members in various prisons in Nigeria has not stopped our agitation.”

 

Edeson alleged that Obasanjo attempted to bribe MASSOB leaders with ‘bag of money’ to forget the struggle for the resurrection of Biafra.

 

He said the MASSOB leaders, at an alleged meeting with Obasanjo in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, rejected the said bribe, which he said was cash in Ghana-must-go bag.

 

“In 2006 while Uwazuruike was in Keffi prison, Obasanjo invited us to Aso Rock where he promised us millions of naira and to send us out of the country.

“Ghana-must-go bag of money just for us to forget Uwazuruike to die in prison.

“But we rejected the offer,” Edeson said.

 

But Edeson noted that Uwazuruike, the former leader of MASSOB, was expelled from the group for “commercialising” the struggle.

 

He said, “Yes it is true that Uwazuruike has commercialised the struggle and that is why we expelled him from MASSOB.

“Obasanjo is ignorant of Biafra.”