Ikom Youths Protest MASSOB Rally

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

An attempt by members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) to stage a successful rally in Ikom town, about 300 kilometres from Calabar, the Cross River State capital, suffered a serious setback as youths from the town kicked against the protest.

Though the members of MASSOB had gathered close to the Ikom Township Stadium from where they were meant to march through many streets in Ikom metropolis, they rather restricted their street march to New Okomo Layout, about 400 metres from where they took off.

Scores of the MASSOB members dressed in uniforms, and waved flags symbolising Biafra conducted themselves peacefully during the short street work.

The zonal leader of MASSOB in the state, Mr. Samuel Okah, while addressing the protesters, said the rally was in commemoration of the 1967 declaration of the sovereign state of Biafra by then leader, Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Okah said the peaceful rally was to send a message that even though Ojukwu did not succeed in establishing a sovereign state of Biafra through violent means, the dream of actualising a Biafran state could be achieved through non-violent means.

Okah said: “We the Biafran independent movement have taken it upon ourselves that every year, the 30th of May should be remembered as a national day as Biafra will be a reality through non-violent means because with arms we annihilated ourselves and destroyed the resources God has given us which has caused for a change of tactics to peaceful means for the actualisation of our dream.”

Further details later