The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has faulted the advice by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, that Nigerians should avoid acts that could plunge the country into another civil war.
MASSOB said rather than making reference to the whole country, the Sultan ought to have directed his advice to Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram insurgents.
The Sultan of Sokoto had, during one of the programmes to mark the Rivers State’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, said Nigeria would not be able to survive another civil war, expressing the need to shun acts that might cause war in the country.
The National Director of Information for the movement, Mr. Sunday Okereafor, who spoke in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, stated that MASSOB had never shown any act of violence in the struggle for a sovereign state of Biafra.
Okereafor explained that while Fulani herdsmen had been killing and maiming people in the southern part of the country, Boko Haram sect had continued to perpetrate similar acts in the North-East.
He stated that MASSOB would not stop its strategy of non-violence in the struggle for self-determination in spite of alleged crackdown on its members.
The spokesman added, “We are not fighting any war this time around. MASSOB will remain non-violent and we will continue with the non-violent approach. This is the 18th year of the struggle by MASSOB. Despite the crackdown, all the killings, all the arrests and provocations, we still remain non-violent.
“The Sultan should direct his statement to Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram group, who are killing and maiming people in Nigeria. The Igbo are peaceful people.
“How can Sultan of Sokoto be talking about civil war? They (North) are the people inciting violence.
“Fulani herdsmen are from the North and they have been killing our people in our bush. They want to provoke us.
“They know that MASSOB is non-violent, but they are using Fulani herdsmen to bring war so that we will react. But we are not interested in that.”
Okoroafor stated that the Igbo people would have been decimated if they were people stealing cows in Nigeria.
“They want to use the herdsmen to conquer us, but we are saying no to war. So, we are telling the Sultan of Sokoto to refer his statement to his brothers, the Fulani herdsmen,” he added.