Buhari hits out at Biafran agitators saying they have forgotten that 2m died in civil war

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has hit out at secessionist agitators campaigning for the break-up of Nigeria and the recreation of the defunct republic of Biafra saying that they should learn from the lesson of the civil war during which over 2m people died.

 

Since October last year when the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob) and Radio Biafra director Nnamdi Kanu was arrested, his supporters have stepped up their calls for the creation of the breakaway republic that existed briefly between July 1967 and January 1970. Mr Kanu is facing trial in Abuja for treason and several other offences and his supporters are demanding his immediate and unconditional release.

 

Speaking at the palace of the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabiru Usman, yesterday, as part of the activities of his official visit to his home state, President Buhari said his administration was committed to the indivisibility of Nigeria. He recalled that over 2m Nigerians were killed during the 30-month civil war between 1967 and 1970 and urged the agitators to bear this in mind.

 

President Buhari added: “Recently, some people who were not even born during the war are saying they want to divide Nigeria. I always say the civil war was fought for the unity of Nigeria because then we hadn’t even discovered oil let alone enjoying it but 2m people were killed.

 

“The way the Sahara is advancing, with Boko Haram, with the growing number of people and uncertainty over rainfall in a land where we fought a civil war leading to the death of about 2m, for someone to just say he will chase us out? Where do we go?”

 

Saying that he knows the difficulties Nigerians are passing through, President Buhari said the government was doing everything possible to change the fortunes of the nation for the better. He urged Nigerians who have land to embrace farming, while those who do not should learn a trade.

 

In addition, President Buhari urged traditional rulers to spearhead the campaign for peaceful and harmonious co-existence among the diverse socio-political groups in the country. He said the call had become imperative in view of the activities of some groups which are preaching hatred, disunity and divisive tendencies among Nigerians for their selfish motives.