The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) says it wants a referendum on self-determination for the south-east of Nigeria not asylum.
In its recently issued guidance, the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) stated that “persecuted” members of the proscribed IPOB and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra would be granted asylum (MASSOB).
But the group in a statement issued on Tuesday by Emma Powerful, IPOB media and publicity secretary, said while they appreciate the gesture from the UK, what members need is a referendum not asylum.
According to the statement, “We, the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ably led by our great and indomitable leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, have noted with satisfaction the news that the United Kingdom has agreed to offer asylum to persecuted Biafra agitators resident in the UK.”
“While we applaud their bold initiative, we would like to respectfully remind them that what we Biafrans most need and cherish is a referendum, not asylum in the United Kingdom.
“We’re sick of being enslaved in the devilish concoction known as Nigeria, which they single-handedly developed.
“We do not want our children, current and future generations, to share the same geopolitical room with those who reward terrorists and criminalize law-abiding citizens.
“We thank the UK government in particular for confirming what the rest of the civilized world already knows: the great IPOB worldwide family is made up of nonviolent agitators and freedom fighters, not terrorists.
“This noble step by the United Kingdom has established that Nigeria is a country run by terrorists for the profit of terrorists.
“Aso Rock, Nigeria’s capital, is a terrorist haven, with ministers openly sympathetic to terrorists and their actions coming and going as they please, while freedom fighters languish in prison. We don’t want asylum; we want freedom.”
