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The Coordinator of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr Julius Chukwukedzie, talking to a section of the press
The Coordinator of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr Julius Chukwukedzie, talking to a section of the press

Don’t forget families of Biafran War victims

Indigenous people of Biafra living in Ghana have been urged not to forget about the families of those who lost their lives during the Biafran War.

The Coordinator of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr Julius Chukwukedzie, gave the advice at an event to mark 50 years of what the organisation described as ‘The Biafran Genocide’, at Madina, near Accra.

“It is in our tradition to honour and remember the dead. Therefore, nothing we do today can be enough to quantify the efforts of those who fought with their lives to make sure that our generation survives to tell the story.

“Apart from this, we should also make the effort to extend helping hands to their families, if need be,” he said.

The Head, Directorate of State of the IPOB, Mazi Chika Edoziem, encouraged the people of Biafra to remain resolute and disciplined in their pursuit of freedom.

“We urge you to maintain the discipline with which the world has now come to identify IPOB. Although we are yet to have that freedom for which our forefathers died, remembering and honouring their sacrifice constantly remind us of the obligation we owe them,” he said.

The people of Biafra

Indigenous people of Biafra are presently located in parts of south east and the middle belt of Nigeria.

Biafra was a secessionist state in Nigeria that brought about a civil war in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970. The area comprised the former Eastern Region of the country.

The inhabitants were mostly Igbo people who led the secession.

Other ethnic groups in Biafra include the Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Ejagham, Eket, Ibeno and the Ijaw.

Activist

A British-Nigerian political activist, Nwannekaenyi "Nnamdi" Kenny Okwu Kanu, is a leading member of one of several Biafran organisations, the IPOB, and the director of a London-based radio station, Radio Biafra.

Kanu was arrested on treason charges in Lagos on October 14, 2015 and detained in a Nigerian jail.

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