THE NATION

Kinsmen of the Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike as well as elders and youths from the Niger Delta region have distanced themselves from the declaration of Biafra by the ex-agitator Asari Dokubo.

The kinsmen of Wike, under the auspices of the Ikwerre Peoples Congress (IPC), said Asari’s proclamation was an abuse of his fundamental human rights.

They described his inclusion of Ikwere and the Niger Delta as part of the Biafra he declared himself the leader as vexatious.

The Convener, IPC, Livingstone Wechie, said: “W0e state categorically that although Asari’s forbearers owe their ancestry to Ikwerre nation, and whereas Asari is a Niger Delta son with his fundamental rights to his identity and affinities, he does not have the right, authority, permission and or legitimacy to speak on behalf of the Ikwerre nation or to speak solely for the Niger Delta under any guise either by himself or through his cronies or agents.

“Ikwerre is too big for that foul play and this is trite knowledge. This view is sacred and undoubtedly includes the rest of the Niger Delta because nobody including Asari Dokubo can impose his personal Will or agenda on any ethnic block in our region. Therefore we ask that the Ikwerre nation be left out of Asari’s diatribe”.

The Southsouth Elders’ Forum (SEF) said the zone believed in one Nigeria and would not be part of Asari’s Biafra.

The Coordinator, SEF, Sarah Igbe, said the zone and the entire Niger Delta including the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) were not part of any secessionist agenda

Igbe, who is a member of Board of Trustees PANDEF, said they were only agitating for restructuring to ensure fiscal federalism that would allow each region control their resources.

He said: “Asari has the right to his opinion. But so far as I know the Southsouth region believes in Nigeria. We believe in one Nigeria and we don’t think we should talk of Biafra despite all the injustices against the former Eastern Region.”

“We don’t believe in breaking from Nigeria. We should go back to the 1960 Constitution where we had our resources and we could talk of fiscal federalism.  That is what we are interested in.

“We are not interested in anything less. We need fiscal federalism as applied in the United States of America and other democratic society”.

The Ibibio Youth Council (iYC), the youth wing of the largest ethnic group in Akwa Ibom, said no part of the state would ever belong to Biafra.

President of the IYC, Mr. Imoh Okoko declared as unfortunate and misguided the statement credited to Dokubo that Akwa Ibom was a Biafran entity.

A former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Eric Omare, said though Dokuboh was entitled to his opinion, majority of Ijaw people did not share the same belief with.

An Ijaw cultural and religious group, Order of Egbesu Brotherhood, also said the Ijaws were not Biafrans.

Coordinator of the group, Apostle Bodmas Prince Kemepadei, said though the Ijaws were not against Biafra agitations, they were not Biafrans.

He said the Ijaw had its own course and in no distant time it would come to bear.

The Egbesu coordinator said: “We respect Asari Dokubo as a leader, but his purported declaration of Ijaw land into his proposed Biafra is his mere opinion that exists only on the faces of newspapers and not the resolve of our people.”