Another Biafra Group Emerges

Amidst the agitation for an independent state of Biafra championed by some Igbo people in the eastern part of the country, another group, Biafra Liberation In Exile (BILIE) has sprung up. Today reports that the separatist group which tagged itself as a human rights initiative has been engaging in closed door meetings prior to its first public outing. The group on its website said“the organization per se is registered in Europe and also registered as an NGO in the category of Indigenous Peoples Organization (IPO) under the United Nations. It has its Human Rights Arm known as BILIE HUMAN RIGHT INITIATIVE which is registered in Nigeria.” The group joins the rank of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) who have been championing the cause for an independent Biafra state. The arrest and continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the director of Radio Biafra has escalated the protest which has spread from the south eastern states to the southern part of the country. In the wake of the numerous protests, some of which has turned violence, the Nigerian army warned protesters not to cross the red line as military personnel were ready for battle. Barr. Pedro Azuogu who is the legal officer of BILIE said in an interview in Umuahia, Abia that the group was the only legal entity in the country registered with the United Nations (UN) as an IPO. He said:“It is also an incorporated Trustee by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Abuja, for the purpose of protecting, defending and advocating for the rights of Indigenous People of Bifra and all other Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities within Nigeria whose rights and freedom are violated by the Nigerian Government, contrary to the UN Charter on human rights and the African Charter on Human Peoples Rights.” Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan’s loyalists was touted as sponsors of the pro-Biafran protestsrocking the eastern part of the country,