Facts are begining to emerge that Nigeria’s northern leaders are uncomfortable with the renewed agitation by the South Eastern part of the country to gain independence, 45 years after a failed attempt to secede.

Indications that the North is worried by the growing number of Biafran agitators emerged Tuesday when shaken Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), condemned the activities of the Movement for
the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) and challenge
leaders of the Igbo nation to come openly and
condemn the activities of the group.

While addressing a news conference at its secretariat
in Kaduna, the chairman of the umbrella body of leaders in the region and former
Inspector General of Police (IG), Alhaji Ibrahim
A. Coomassie, condemned Igbo leaders for maintaining silence in the face of secessionist hurricane gathering momentum across the world since the launch of it’s pirate radio, Radio Biafra.

The North is more miffed by the inability of the President Muhammadu Buhari government to jam the Radio Biafra frequency, 102.1 FM, freely broadcasting in South Eastern states and parts of the South South of Nigeria.

The ACF’s leader took time to urge Ndigbo leaders to speak out
against MASSOB, especially against Radio Biafra, to prove that they are not backing
the agitations of the group for an independent country.

He described alleged calls by MASSOB for
secession after 45 years of the civil war as
undemocratic and divisive tendencies, saying
that Igbo leaders should dissociate themselves
from the group.

According to Coomassie, “ACF has observed with
serious concern the continued agitation by
some Ndigbo elements for the creation of Biafra
Republic out of the present Federal Republic of
Nigeria.

“As you will recall, the issue of Biafra was
settled in 1970 after a civil war. It is therefore
sad and unfortunate that 45 years after, when
Nigerians are now united in a democratic
system of governance, some elements are now
busy drumming the idea of another war and
secession through ‘Radio Biafra’ and MASSOB
activities”.

But following the marginalisation of Ndigbo in the President Buhari government, through his lopsided appoints so far, TheStreetReporters.com can authoritatively reveal that number of Easterners joining Biafra actualisation has tripled.

TheStreetReporters.com findings point to the obvious: increasing number of Igbos are disenchanted with Nigeria and see no future in the Nigerian commonwealth, where, according to them, they are seen as slaves that cannot aspire to the leadership height of their choice.

Confronted by this reality, the north has began moves to cause a crack within Ndigbo leadership and turn a few against the Biafran group.

Therefore, the northern forum noted that it has observed that the most painful aspect of the agitation by the young Ndigbo elements is the deaf ear and silence from the elders who experienced the bitter pill of the secession attempt, a 30 months civil war.

For them, the Ndigbo elders, who knew the consequence of such ‘futile’ agitation, should rise up to halt the agitators, whom he described as “insensitive” and “backward” in their thinking by moving for ‘unholy division”, saying they are anti-Nigeria.

It is expected that the Biafra secessionist agitation would dominate northern leaders’ forum deliberation tomorrow, as the press briefing was preparatory to the ACF Annual General Assembly scheduled to hold in Kaduna on Wednesday.

According to him, most worrisome is that the agitators are in their safe abode outside Nigeria and are openly campaigning in foreign countries for a divided Nigeria.

The former IGP who recalled that only a week ago, an elder statesman from the South East celebrated his birthday by launching two books, saying that a good number of personalities in the South-East
attended in their traditional regalia and that as the event progressed, it was nothing but Biafra, with inciting and provocative speeches by one speaker after the other.

For the north, such posturing made most non-Igbo at the event stage a dramatic walk out and that even the guest of honour could not halt the exit in spite of the pleadings.

Coomassie then declared that the “ACF expects Ndigbo leaders to come out openly and condemn such agitations just as others condemned Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east region.”

He demanded that the Igbo leaders and groups across Nigeria come out and publicly condemn or dissociate themselves from what he termed “Act of Treason against the state” by the agitators, whom he described as disgruntled Ndigbo elements.

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