The British offer of asylum to IPOB and MASSOB supporters has been characterized by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) as a planned agreement with the Buhari-led government to draw attention away from the citizens of Biafra.
Remember that the UK visas and immigration office recently issued new guidelines that could offer asylum to suspected persecuted members of Biafran separatist groups.
On paper, the Nigerian government immediately denounced the UK’s decision, but MASSOB says the gesture is part of a set of plans devised by President Buhari in coordination with the British government to prevent Biafra from forming.
MASSOB in a statement signed by its leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, said Biafran agitators do not need British asylum, describing it as a Greek gift.
“The government of Britain is the sole architecture of the political, economical and religious problems of the people of Biafra in Nigeria even till today,” MASSOB’s statement said.
“They have not shown any remorse or apologized to the people of Biafra. Britain killed, maimed and wounded our fathers, mothers and brethren through the Hausa Fulanis. MASSOB rejects their Assylum gift.
“How did the prime persecutor of the people of Biafra become our pacesetter so quickly? The United Kingdom and Nigeria can no longer mislead the world about the plight of the Biafran people.
“Our unified resilience, resolutions and unshakable spirit of no surrender will continue to hunt down this geographical expression called Nigeria.
“MASSOB demands for a referendum on Biafra and not asylum,” the group said.