“MASSOB Will Drive Boko Haram Across the Sahara Desert”

Ralph Uwazuruike

— Ralph Uwazuruike, Leader, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB)
By Okechukwu Obenta, Awka
What is your reaction to the recent ultimatum given by the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram to Southerners to leave the North within three days or be forced to leave.
You will recall that at the inception when Boko Haram started, my first publication on the matter was that I support Boko Haram. I was of the view they were also asking for their own independence because they said they wanted about 12 states in the North to be Islamized. I said it is another way of self determination. And since we are fighting for a state of Biafra for Ndigbo, I said they were my contemporaries. But I started viewing them differently when I saw that they were veering off from their agenda, when I saw that they had no agenda because they started attacking innocent people. It is said that Boko Haram means, “No to Western education,” what has innocent people got to do with that? What does attacking churches has to do with Boko Haram? What has it got with Western education and all that? So, that was when I started changing my opinion about them, otherwise, initially I supported them. I said they are my colleagues in the struggle for self determination except that they were using violence and mine is not violence. United Nations Charter said if you want freedom, independence, you can use any means possible, and that any means possible involves also violence, so that was my view then. But my view about them changed when they started attacking innocent people, attacking churches. And now when you say southerners should go, and you give them three days, that means that you already have your target which is Southerners and not Western education, that means that you are even misguided, you don’t even know what you want. My view is that while asking for Biafra, my people should continue to stay wherever they are in the North, and Biafra should be by negotiation. They have no need to come back because we have Nigerians in Britain, we have Nigerians in America. Even in Africa here or West Africa here we have Nigerians in Togo, Ghana and, all parts of West Africa. So being an Independent nation does not say that only the citizens of Biafra should stay in Nigeria if they are comfortable there. Even citizens of Nigeria should stay in Biafra if they are comfortable in Biafra, but they will be citizens of Nigeria in Biafra and citizens of Biafra in Nigeria, that is why I believe in dialogue as a means of achieving an end. But if you say all Southerners should go to the South and that Northerners should come back to the North, then we will begin to ask questions; How? These Southerners have their assets in the North, their properties in the North. And you want them to go out, what then happens to their properties in the North? They have not really told us how they will chase them away (after the three days ultimatum) whether by force or by peaceful means. But if it is by force, well, I won’t go further, I won’t speak for them. But I think they have lost focus. They don’t have focus ab-initio because if they had, they should work according to their agenda. But whichever form they want to use, they should not start killing innocent people even if they intend to fight against the security agencies like, they bombed the headquarters of the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, last time. If they attack the security agencies, we will not have anything against them.
Since Boko Haram started their activities, their method/modus operandi has been violence. They usually bomb their target areas, deliberately kill people and inflict destruction. So it is obvious that if they want to make good their threat that Southerners leave the North, they will certainly apply force, which perhaps will involve bombing. And it is clear that when they start, Ndigbo will be killed in the North.
Are you not worried about this likely attack on Ndigbo.
Sure, when you say war, or threat of war, as an Igboman, I’m not scared because in Nigeria we are the only tribe that had challenged the status quo in Nigeria in a war for three years, in the same of Ogbunigwe (bombing) or armament. We are more sophisticated because we produce all these things and we educate other people on how to produce them. So, if they want war, we are not new to war. We, the Easterners will give them war as much as they want. Fine, they want to drive our people. I have the statisitics of those who have died in their attacks in the North – Boko Haram attacks. Majority of them are Igbos we know. My men are still there. And remember that MASSOB is in every part of Nigeria. We enlist in every local government in Nigeria. There is no village in the North we don’t have office, they know that. So our intelligence is so vast. We know how many people that died each day that are not reported by the newspapers. We have all of them. But what we are avoiding is the repeat of the event of 1967 – 1970. We had fought a war and we lost. We know what it means. So, it is only the contemporaries that clamour for revolution. They are just new to it. And their attitude to it is quite different from ours. We said we want independence, and, we have come out for it. We want Biafra, we are MASSOBians we are struggling for it. They (Boko Haram members) themselves, they have no identity. They are hiding, we are not hiding. You throw bomb, you run away. Why are you running away? You should stay there. When you throw bomb, and people die you can come out and say yes, I did it, here I am. But if you run away, then you are not a brave person. Because if you are hiding and there’s need for negotiation whom does government negotiate with? I don’t see the attitude of Boko Haram as bravery. And we in MASSOB don’t believe in killing people. And if they say they want to use force to drive our people without the risk of being immodest, I can assure them that they cannot defeat us. They cannot beat us in that aspect of violence because majority of us were born during the war. We have seen Ogbunigwe, some of us produced it in mass quantity. What I see is that they are targetting President Goodluck Jonathan’s government. What have Southerners done to you? They are the people that developed the North you are now talking about. And which area now is being called the North? Is Abuja too part of the North because Ndigbo developed Abuja? 2/3 of all the investments in Abuja belong to Ndigbo outside the government. 2/3 of all the hotels in Abuja belong to Ndigbo. Personally, I’m against Ndigbo investing in the North. But if you want to use force to drive Ndigbo out of the North, it will be resisted by MASSOB, it will be resisted by Ndigbo and in resisting that, we don’t need to import any technology or anybody or mercenary to assist us to drive you across the sahara. We will drive all of them (Boko Haram members) across the Sahara where they come from. If they try us, the only authority that can even mean anything to us is the Western authorities that helped them to defeat us (during the civil war). That is Britain, Russia, Egypt, the Arab nations. No force in West Africa can withstand Ndigbo, so if they provoke us, MASSOB will drive all of them across the Sahara Desert. And that’s our position.
You said that you have been compiling the list of Igbo victims in the various Boko Haram onslaughts in the North. So how is the figure?
We don’t want to come out with the figure now because we are still articulating it; they die on daily basis. If we say the figure is this, what about the people that died today? We will come out with a statement. This one they are doing “garagara” now… you know, to divide Nigeria is what we’ve been working for since in MASSOB. But we want to do it in a peaceful negotiation like it was done in the Soviet Union. People don’t need to die because our people have assets in the North and in the West too. So we don’t want it by war, unless, you want to inherit what does not belong to you. We are taking our time. So, if you want it by force or something of that nature, you will be the person that will regret it because we are very versatile in the art of warfare. The era of using bows and arrows are gone. If they try it, say good luck to them.
As it is now, how prepared is MASSOB to protect Ndigbo in the event that Boko Haram decide tomorrow to force Southerners to leave the Northern part of Nigeria?
But they are hiding, we don’t hide. Have you seen MASSOB hide before? If we tell you that we shall do this, we do it and we own up. You don’t say you will do this and you are hiding, why are they hiding? Come out now. We don’t take people to be brave when they run away, you understand? So I’m not doubting their potency. All I’m saying is that if they get us provoked, we will drive them across the Sahara, that’s what I’m saying. And I say it again, that no power can match us in Nigeria. And they know it. Without the intervention of the Arab League, America, Britain and Russia, they couldn’t have defeated Biafra. And up till today, they can’t defeat Biafra. It is only the combination of these people that can withstand us. No tribe in Nigeria can withstand Ndigbo. They know this. You can see that I’m not afraid of them. As MASSOBians, it is only the federal government of Nigeria that can match us. No state government, no establishment can match MASSOB in terms of anything. So, how can we be afraid? Let them try it. They have given three days, two days have gone. Let them try it. Mark my word “we will drive them across the Sahara desert. I will do it. They are hiding, let them come out and face us; they say they are Boko Haram. Let them come out now, let me know their leader. Let him come out.
If they refuse to come out and decide to continue to operate from their hide-outs, how can you guarantee the safety of Ndigbo in the North in the face of this threat.
Let me tell you, every problem has its remedy. Whatever they are doing, they are doing it with Nigeria because Nigeria don’t have intelligence network. If Nigeria has intelligence network, they would have stopped Boko Haram. If Nigeria wants, let her come, I will give her the intelligence to stop this nonsense called Boko Haram. We in MASSOB, we have the intelligence, we have the network. It is not something to talk about in an interview or whatever. So, we know how to checkmate them. If they try to provoke us, they will regret it. It is only the federal government of Nigeria that can stop us, nobody in Nigeria. And if it is a war, nobody in Nigeria except the foreign countries that can assist them to stop us. They know it. What Ojukwu did in 1967, I can do it todays double it if they try it. Today we are more sophisticated. Let them try it. They are always throwing bombs. If you throw bomb, do you know what the next person will do? You are attacking innocent people who went to church. Is that how to show strength? You plant bomb and then you run away and hide. And you say that you are a strong man. When it comes, all these people will all run away. I don’t believe in killing innocent people. I believe in fighting for my right according to the laws as a civilised person. Why should you kill innocent people. They are even fools. Their brothers are here (in the South east) selling Dollars. We don’t challenge them. Even though they are killing our people, we still maintain peace with their brothers here. Do they think they are more intelligent than we are? Or that we can’t kill their brothers here? They are cowards, bloody cowards.
It is clear that you are angry over the manner Ndigbo are being killed by Boko Haram . At what point are you planning to retaliate?
I will not answer that question, whether we have any plans to retaliate or not. I am watching President Goodluck Jonathan. I want to see what he will do. One of the meetings I went for in Aso Rock I told them that the North is against Jonathan. I made it known to him. And because they are against him, Ndigbo will continue to support him because, they are talking about South, about Muslim/Christians or Islam/Christianity. They want to reduce it because a Southerner is the President. And because of that I support Jonathan because he is a Southerner. Since they have reduced it to North/South, I’m a Southerner too. I should support my brother if Jonathan will allow us to fight, North and Igbo, the whole North and Ndigbo, let him just put off the army, let the whole North face Ndigbo, we will drive them across the Sahara desert. Why I’m saying this is because I’m sure, I know what we can do.
So what you are saying is that you are upbeat that MASSOB can contain Boko Haram.
I’m saying MASSOB only in the North, our members only in the North will chase them away. Not the ones in the South here. I know the strength of my members in the North, in the 19 states of the North, not to talk of our members in the South. These Boko Haram, how many are they? Do you know how many MASSOB members we have in Nigeria? I’m waiting for Jonathan. My patience can run to an end. If the government cannot do anything, then it will now be “Everybody to your tent, o Israel.” Then it means that the Nigerian state has failed. I wanted the Nigeria state to fail by negotiation the way it was done in Yugoslavia, Soviet Union and other places by negotiation so that no innocent lives will be lost. Do you understand me? You kill people in the principle that Nigeria should break up. I support Boko Haram, but I don’t support them in their violence and their use of crude means to kill people. But if they want the entire North to be Islamised, I will clap for them, I will say I want it. Which day does it happen? Because I want my own country. But if you start killing innocent people, there I won’t support you. And if you start killing my people trying to narrow whatever ideology you have to killing Ndigbo I will resist you, I will tell you, no way! Then we shall come up and fight against you. But the funniest thing is that we don’t know them, they are hiding. I want their leader to come out as I come out and announce his name and say let us fight. But instead they are hiding and throwing bombs, they are cowards by doing that. I come out to say I want Nigeria to break up, so that my people may go. I have gone to prison countless times for that. And I continue to say it. You said you want an independent Sharia State or whatever it is and you are hiding and throwing bombs.
Some prominent Northerners have been arrested in connection with the Boko Haram activities, some of them were accused of sponsoring the group, so it is clear that some leaders of the Boko Haram are known.
Yes, of course, but they used the court to free them but if it was Uwazuruike, they can incarcerate me for donkey years for doing nothing. Remember Olusegun Obasanjo arrested me when he was President, charged me and detained me for treason for two and half years. I wouldn’t have been realeased if not that my mother died. But somebody was pin-pointed as sponsoring a group that bombed the United Nations building in Abuja, that bombed police headquarters and all that, they just freed him, granted him bail. That’s part of the injustice I’m talking about in Nigeria. Do you think if it was Uwazuruike he would have been granted bail? You see, in a place where you have injustice, the hand of God will never be there. And in a place where the hand of God is lacking, that place will never last. In Nigeria, the hand of God is lacking. No matter how they try, Nigeria will break up because ab-initio Nigeria was moulded in illegality. The man in 1914 who brought the Northern and Southern protectorates together was very unfair. He came with unfair means. Do you understand? Lord Lugard. He didn’t come with good conscience. He wanted to rob Peter in order to pay Paul. He wanted all the resources in the Southern protectorate to be used to administer the Northern protectorate. You see, injustice had already set in the issue of Nigeria. As admissible abinitio as a foundation of Nigeria, Nigeria can never, never stand, it must collapse because the hand of God ab-initio was not there. You see, they are removing fuel subsidy and people are shouting, they will remove fuel subsidy and hardship will increase, and they will never use the money well, it will go down the drain, because the hand of God is lacking. If they like, let them have 20 presidents in Nigeria. Nigeria will be worse than ever because the hand of God is not there. Not until Nigeria breaks up, we have different ethnic nationalities go their own way, then everybody will operate the way God has given him the strength to do it, that’s when you will see development. But Nigeria is saying because of Western influence, because of oil, if Nigeria is divided, they cannot mop up the quantity of oil they want, but that is the mistake on their part, I mean America and Britain, because, any country in the divided Nigeria that has oil can negotiate with them. Now you see there is Boko Haram and all that, there is no way cat and dog can leave together. That is what I have been telling them since and it is happening now. Moslems are Moslems, they have their culture, Christians are Christians they have their culture, Ndigbo are Ndigbo, Ndi Hausa are Ndi Hausa, we don’t have the same culture. You say we have the same culture. You say we must patch, let us continue patching now. But what I abhor is killing our people like in the past. The killing of Ndigbo started in 1945 in Kano. We have not lost sense of that history. And if it continues today, it is only the federal government that can stop us.
It is strongly believed that the Boko Haram group also enjoys sponsorship of some external powers.
That is what I am telling you. Imagine, a Senator was accused (of sponsoring Boko Haram). And the person he was giving money said “you were giving us money, you are our sponsor and other people.” There are others in Nigeria here, big-shots; they don’t want to mention their names. During the (last) presidential election, didn’t (former vice-president) Atiku (Abubakar) give a proverb that those that make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable? Didn’t President Jonathan hear it? Then who are you suspecting? If somebody can say something like this and the election was held and things start going this way, he should be arrested. You should arrest him. There is a prima facie case, that he said this and look at what is happening. What evidence again do you need? But they are pretending as if they don’t know anything. The other time, the spokesperson of the SSS, Marylyn Ogar was telling us on television that some people who are in government have stolen money, they use the resources they stole from government to arm unemployed youths to start causing problems. As SSS spokesperson, you know there were some people who work for the Nigerian government, use the money they stole from the treasury to arm Islamic sect and you didn’t arrest them, it means you are a coward. But if it were Uwazuruike, they will conspire and arrest me because I am an Igbo man. I was ashamed when I saw her talking like that.

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