Biafra Voice News

The European Union (EU) has withdrawn financial support for Nigeria, saying the country has enough resources to meet her developmental needs.

The Head of EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Michel Arrion, gave the charge thursday at an annual distinguished lecture organised by IBB Golf Club in collaboration with Foundation for Global Impact and Sustainable Development.

He said what the EU would do instead is to help with technical support and capacity-building towards development.

While urging the Nigerian government to Begin to look beyond Official Development Assistance (ODA), the envoy suggested the judicious application of taxation.

He charged Nigeria to remain committed to the course of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union in order to realise the goals of the regional blocks.

The ambassador who noted that the EU would not have become what it is today without the quality leadership provided by Germany, stated that Nigeria as a nation has what it takes to uplift the regional block and give it direction.

“We are not offering more financial support, we are proposing more political and policy dialogue, technical assistance, capacity building, training, transfer of technology, more advocacy for more private investments and other innovative sources of funding.

“To finance the development of the country, Nigeria must find alternative funding to ODA. Nigeria must collect much more taxes five times more, to reach an average of 20 per cent of the GDP, and spend better.

“It should also attract much more foreign investment and put in place more and better private/public partnerships. I believe Nigerian authority should work harder to provide good reasons for foreign investors to want to invest in Nigeria,” he said.

Speaking on the theme: ‘40 Years of EU in Nigeria, Lessons and the Way Forward,’ Arrion noted that ECOWAS can only be strong when leading countries such as Nigeria believe in it.

He added that to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Nigeria and other countries within the West African region must be committed to regional integration.

“We in the EU believe in the relevance of regional integration. ECOWAS would be strong when Nigeria believes in it and is committed to making it strong.

“EU is strong because Germany believes in it,” Arrion stated.

Reviewing the operations of the EU in Nigeria in the past 40 years, the ambassador stated that it has been 40 years of development cooperation in agriculture, infrastructures, health, water, energy and other micro-project.

According to him, the body has Since 2000 adopted a more ‘political’ approach in its support by engaging in human rights activism, campaign for improved criminal justice system, prisons reform, fight against trafficking in human beings, small arms and drugs.

“More recently, a much more political approach has been adopted in our cooperation with Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) towards the de-radicalisation, counter-radicalisation of Boko Haram, fight against corruption as well as humanitarian assistance, and aid to reconstruction of the North-east,” the ambassador stated.

Millions of EU nationals living in the UK will have to apply to a “settled status” register and might be given ID cards as part of new plans laid out by the Home Office.

The Government’s 15-page policy paper sets out an online application process for the three million EU nationals in the UK to make sure they receive the same rights and benefits as non-European nationals who have lived in the UK for five years.

It is unclear whether the “settled status” would result in an identity card or simply be an entry in a Home Office database.

“I want to completely reassure people that under these plans, no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully, will be asked to leave at the point the UK leaves the EU,” said Theresa May. 

After Ms May gave a statement on the issue in Parliament, the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier tweeted, “More ambition, clarity and guarantees needed than in today’s UK position.”

The 150,000 people who have already applied for permanent resident status since the referendum will have to apply again, but will not have to provide evidence of sickness insurance this time round.

The Home Office processes millions of visas each year. The new “light touch” online system, as described by Ms May, will use existing HMRC documents to save applicants retrieving pay slips from five years ago.

While the Home Office paper said that EU nationals cannot bring a spouse to live with them unless they meet an £18,600 minimum income threshold, Ms May did not mention this in her speech. She said that people with “settled status” would have equal rights to British citizens if they wanted to bring over family members.

EU citizens are yet to see whether they will retain their voting rights in local elections, or whether they will have the protection of the European court of justice, which, under the new plan, will no longer have jurisdiction over their rights in the UK.

Several issues for EU nationals living in the UK, such as healthcare, professional qualifications and rights for self-employed workers, have not been guaranteed.

There are several protections, however, including pensions, and certain security benefits like child benefit.

The need to apply for “settled status” will only become mandatory after the cut-off date, which has not been set. 

Former Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, who campaigned to leave the EU and to reform the immigration system, tweeted: “New UK government rules on EU citizens still set no cut-off date. Numbers will continue to grow.”

EU nationals will be given a grace period of up to two years if they can demonstrate five consecutive years of residence in the UK. Ms May said anyone with less than five years, but who arrives in the UK before the country leaves the EU, will be allowed to build up to five years and apply for “settled status”.

After the cut-off date, EU nationals who have not applied will not be allowed to stay in the country, although people can come to the UK after the deadline on a temporary basis and will have the chance to apply for permanent residency.

Any EU national arriving in the UK after the cut-off date will be subject to the new immigration rules, which are yet to be agreed.

Ms May was grilled over the threat of families being broken up if her new plan insists upon a minimum income requirement to bring over a spouse.

“No families will be split up. Family dependents who join a qualifying EU citizen here before the UK’s exit will be able to apply for settled status after five years,” she responded.

“After the UK has left the European Union, EU citizens with settled status will be able to bring family members from overseas on the same terms as British nationals.”

The income requirement raises questions, however, on how EU nationals can bring over parents and other family members.

Written by Kings Jv Chibuzor
For Family Writers

Document Handlers Limited (DHL), is a prominent global logistics industry whose fundamental operational expertise is  to ensure adequate, safe and confidential delivery of goods and documents amongst other customised, express freight services through air, land and sea both nationally and Internationally. DHL is a world class conglomerate reputed for professional logistics services, with zero level of incompetence or reported cases of corruption and dissatisfaction from clients.

This letter to DHL International Head Office, is to officially register the ongoing biasness of its branch office here in Nigeria, in discharging its functions. There exists brazen acts of corruption under the management of Frank Abenemi which has led to massive negative unprintable complaints from customers. A very clear example of dissatisfaction of services is that which is coming from Mr. James Uzuegbulem Akabogu who happens to be one of the salient customers to DHL Nigeria Ltd. His complaints have led to the uncovering of shameful shady deals targeted at customers in Nigeria.

As earlier mentioned, DHL is a reputable logistics organisation with specialties in service delivery to the satisfaction of its clienteles which DHL Nigeria Ltd, an affiliate body to this International entity, has reneged on. The Nigeria DHL Head Office has wittingly and unprofessionally, denied Mr. James Uzuegbulem Akabogu of his valuable documents which were billed for the acquisition of his Austrian passport through careless misplacement. The documents consist of police reports, amongst others, required by the Austrian Embassy, to facilitate the issuance of his International passport. Mr. James Uzuegbulem Akabogu realising this careless act of sabotage, opted to institute a law suit against Nigeria office of DHL as a last resort in reclaiming his documents which had cost him a fortune.

DHL Nigeria Ltd, a supposed professional and friendly customer oriented outfit, treated the misplacement of Mr. Akabogu's documents with levity hence the plaintiff's resolve to approach the court for redress. The company gravely erred as a reputable organisation to pacify the offended in its wisdom on customer relationship. Millions of Naira has already been expended by Mr. James Akabogu. The court will however resume its sitting on the 15th of June 2017 at the Federal High Court , Abuja with an appointment of a presiding Judge for hearings on the case.

DHL International office should as a matter of integrity and expediency, set in a drastic motion but image redeeming modalities, to stem the breach of corrupt tendencies,  as occasioned by the bad precedence of its Nigeria based Head office under the management of Frank Abenemi.

The confidence of its numerous customers especially Biafrans scattered all over the places passionately doing businesses with DHL through her enviable logistics delivery services, should not only be seen to be restored but also protected.

The Abuja based Federal High Court that is saddled with the responsibility of delivering justice in this case, should expedite action in ensuring that all damages and claims put forward by the plaintiff - Mr. James Uzuegulem Akabogu are accorded adequate compensation by DHL Nigeria Ltd on the adjourned date of sitting.

Biafrans all over the world are watching closely, with keen interest, the proceedings and the final outcome of this case.

Edited by Peter Oshagwu
Family Writers Press

The fall of Theresa May and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn has thrown the British political system into chaos.  True, May could very well hold on with the help of a small Northern Irish party, but the undercurrents that led to Corbyn near victory are not going away anytime soon. Great Britain as a cultural and national entity is no more united than the former Yugoslavia.  Whether it is London, with its Muslim mayor, Scotland’s desire for independence, or the rise of the austerity craving multi-cultural youth that drove Corbyn’s election surprise. This is why the Conservatives who are trying to recruit Boris Johnson to take the reigns of their party are missing it, Britain as we know it, is finished.

In a sense the British empire has been repaid what it has dished out over the years.  Great Britain has over the years sowed chaos through much of its colonial holdings in order to ensure its continued control of these areas. Moreover, they encouraged Islamic forces in each colony to displace the rightful indigenous owners.

Nigeria, India, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel are perfect examples of Britain’s chaos strategy through the years.

In Nigeria, the British forced three independent areas together and gave the keys to the Islamic Hausa in the country’s north. The Hausa forced the Judeo-Christian Igbo to the south in Biafra into a subservient relationship in order to provide the oil located their to their British backers.

In India, the Hindu leaders and society suffered from the British backed Muslim minority until India became independent in 1947.

Iraq, is also a British construct, designed to produce oil for the empire.  Three groups were forced to share the colony together. The indigenous Kurds to the north, the Sunnis in the center, and the Shiites to the south.  The British always sided with the Arabs in the country, despite their late arrival and helped to keep down the country’s indigenous Kurdish populations.  Oil in the north was transferred to the country’s south by way of Arab control in a similar set up as Nigeria.

In Afghanistan, the indigenous Pashtun were displaced by the British created Durand Line, simply because the British wanted to drain the Pashtun of their power to exert control over the are through their willful servants in Kabul and in Pakistan.

In Israel, the Jews were the majority population of Jerusalem since the mid 1800’s.  Not only that, until the Turks pushed Arabs from Syria to migrate southward in the early 1900’s the Jews were on their way to fast becoming the majority of the entire Land of Israel. When the British created Palestine in 1917 as the Jewish Homeland, they did so out of confidence that a Jewish population who was indebted to them would act in subservience. When this did not happen they quickly returned to the policy of the Turks and encouraged Arab immigration to Israel while blocking the same for Jews. Furthermore, they encouraged Arab riots in 1920, 1929, the 1930’s and supplied weapons to the attacking Arab armies in 1948. In both Jerusalem, and Hebron where the riots took place, the Jews who were ancient residents in both places were driven from their homes.

The chaos in Britain is a long time coming. They allowed their country to be cannibalized from within. The irony that not only Israel and India are becoming global powerhouses, but Biafra and Kurdistan may soon gain their independence as oil producers while Britain descends into the netherworld of a once powerful empire should not be lost.

YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN IF YOU ARE A BIAFRAN STILL RESIDING IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

10TH JUNE 2017 PRESS RELEASE

THE DUTY OF BIAFRA DEFENSIVE SQUAD (BDS) IS TO PROTECT BIAFRA TERRITORY FROM INVASION OF OUR ENEMIES, NOTHING MORE OR LESS

The highest command of Biafra Defensive Squad (BDS) lead by General Iwedinaobi, have expressed his concern on the 90days (3Months) vacation ultimatum issued by Arewa Youths Forum to all the Biafrans residing in every part of the northern states of Nigeria. Speaking to the BDS spokesman Commander Sealord Bricks on Saturday, he raised a quit alarm to all the Biafrans still residing in the northern Nigeria to with immediate effect relocate from the northern states to any state in Biafra land. However, the joint forces of Biafra Defensive Squad which comprises the Land Squad and the Sea Squad joyfully accepted the Arewa Youths Forum ultimatum,  as it is a welcome development towards the struggle to the total restoration of our territory (Biafra Territory).

Henceforth, our joint squads will secure our boundaries with each northern states from invasion of our land by the enemies,  because the war line has just been drawn and fast approaching. We have met with some of our mother land militant groups who are combat-ready to shield the Biafra territory by every means possible. The militant group, which are made up of ex-militants, through its Spokesperson, CPL Oleum Bellum, cautioned that those who try their resolve will be made scapegoats. They vowed to resume bloody attacks on all oil industries in Biafra land effectively from June 30, 2017. The leader of Biafra Defensive Squad (BDS) also promised to help them in  accomplishing their deadly HITs against the Nigeria government which will outset any moment from now.

This time around, we will implement all our expertise tactics in assuring that the August ultimatum to commence with our deadly attacks is still unnegotiable because it will be suicidal.

We urge every housa/fulanis in every part of Biafra land which comprises Delta state, Akwa-Ibom state, Rivers state, IMO state, Enugu state, Abia state, Ebonyi state and Cross-river state, to vacate the above mentioned state before 26th August 2017.

Biafra Defensive Squad (Land Strike Team) has already monitored in each above mentioned states in Biafra land, where the housa/fulanis laid siege and also where they consider today as their homes. Starting from Ama-housa in IMO state, Ugwu Onyeama/Nightmile & Gariki in Enugu state, Rukpokurishi in Rivers state, Effiom in Ebonyi state Etc.

THE TIME IS NOW FOR ALL THE BIAFRANS RESIDING IN THE NORTH TO COME BACK HOME, AND ALL THE HOUSA/FULANIS IN BIAFRA LAND TO VACATE BIAFRA TERRITORY.

A WORD IS ENOUGH FOR THE WISE!!

Com. Sealord Bricks
BDS Spokesperson

Nigeria: A sign of hope for all those agitating for the restoration of Biafra from Nigeria. the ingenuity and tactics of the indigenous people of Biafra is second to non as it has started paying off.

The calls and protests by the Indigenous People of Biafra and other such groups, received some attention in the British House of Commons.

In a motion called Early Day Motion 808 and titled Biafra Independence, Elliott, Tom moved a motion that urged the British government to support the bid for the creation of a Biafra Republic by urging the Nigerian government to conduct a referendum.

The motion which was supported by Kinahan, Danny read

“That this House recognizes the calls for the independence of territories that constituted the Biafra Republic; acknowledges the Biafran issue could be improved with the co-operation of the Nigerian government by offering a referendum; and urges the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to use its diplomatic strength to assist in the resolution of this matter.”

– The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Saturday, June 3, said the Department of State Services and the Nigeria police Force was out to cause trouble in Umuahia

– The IPOB said security institutions are focused on intimidating its members and leader Nnamdi Kanu

– The IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu also threatened to shutdown Umuahia if the police and the DSS continue their surveillance in the city

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Saturday, June 3, said the Department of State Services and the Nigeria police Force was out to cause trouble in Umuahia, Abia state’s capital city.

IPOB alleged that the security institutions are focused on intimidating its members and leader Nnamdi Kanu.

In a statement, the group said Isiama Afara Ukwu, the hometown of its leaders was currently flooded with vans belonging to the Nigeria police and the DSS.

The IPOB said the numerous vans were patrolling the streets of Afara Ukwu and were also seen at strategic positions close to the resident of IPOB leader.

Also, sources within the Kanu’s family to NAIJ.com that the vans were used to convey the security operatives in plain clothes around the hometown of the IPOB leader. “Since morning, they have been patrolling here and director is not happy.

“When we were talking about it, he said if they (security) continues like this, he will mobilize IPOB members from all states in Nigeria and shut down Umuahia,” a source said.

PLUSMILA.com had earlier reported that how the Nigeria police began land and aerial surveillance ahead of the May 30, IPOB’s sit-at-home protest.

The surveillance, the police said was part of security arrangement to ensure peace and tranquility during the protest.

How he shutdown South East May 30

By Willy Eya and tunde thomas

“Live the life of your dreams. Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and purpose instead of the expectations and opinion of others. Don’t let others tell you what you can’t do. Don’t let the limitations of others limit your vision. If you can remove your self-doubt and believe in yourself, you can achieve what you never thought possible.”

Enter Nnamdi Kenny Okwu Kanu, the new kid on the block. The above quote by a great thinker, Roy T. Benett captures the power of vision and self-belief, which the British-Nigerian political activist now represents. He is a man of the moment and hate or love him, his name has got stuck in the minds of the majority of Nigerians. And perhaps no name in the country today rings a bell like that of the prisoner of conscience.

Surprisingly, before now, Kanu who doubles as the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and director of a London-based radio station, Radio Biafra was literally unknown in Nigeria.  But out of the blues, the Abia State born activist became a household name when on October 14, 2015, he was arrested by the agents of the Federal Government, the Department of State Security (DSS) in his hotel room, Golden Tulip Essential Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos State on treason charges. He was thereafter detained in jail. His arrest and detention marked the beginning of the making of today’s Igbo hero. Many would agree that since his arrest on that fateful day, the popularity of the young man with a heart of steel has soared like an eagle.

The man Nnamdi

Kanu was born in Isiama Afara, Abia State, Nigeria. His father is Eze Israel Okwu Kanu and his mother Ugoeze Nnenne Kanu. He attended Library Avenue Primary School (now part of Government House, Umuahia) and went to Government College Umuahia for his secondary education. The freedom fighter later gained admission to the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), where he could not finish due to incessant strikes before he left for London to complete his tertiary education. By 1987, Nnamdi was merely an innocent Geography major, resident at Akintola Hall of the UNN. Not given to half measures and as one of those gifted in the pursuit of their dreams, Nnamdi’s path would prove to be thorny, uncommon and epochal. It is little wonder that he did not have the patience to tarry along with other normal students before going abroad for his studies.

While in London, Kanu became an activist and freedom fighter with the sole aim of liberating the people of Biafra who he believes are being oppressed in Nigeria. One of the greatest instruments he deployed to achieve that dream was the Radio Biafra with which he continuously lampooned the Federal Government. A man of his conviction, he took his activities to the extreme and did not pretend that he could even pay the supreme price for the liberation of his people. The IPOB leader was once quoted to have said he is an Igbo Jew, part of a group who believe they are descendants of the lost tribe of Israel who settled in West Africa.

Speaking ahead of the 50th anniversary of Biafran war to Al-Jazeera despite being banned by the court not to grant interviews, Kanu had made it clear that the demand for the secession of Ndigbo from Nigeria is because the nation seems not to be functioning and can never function.

He decried the marginalisation of the Igbo in Nigeria, saying that they have been prevented from aspiring to assume important positions in the country. Kanu like in the words of Philip Brooks, believes that, “no man has come to true greatness who has not felt that his life belongs to his race, and that which God gives to him, He gives him for mankind”.

Hero or villain

For Kanu, many believe that heroism was thrust on him by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration following his arrest, detention and eventual release on bail. The news of the arrest of Mr Kanu generated protests across parts of Delta, Enugu, Rivers, Cross River, Abia, Imo, and Anambra states.

The argument is that the activist has been operating long before the All Progressives Congress (APC) government came on board and many Nigerians hardly knew that any name like Nnamdi Kanu ever existed. The permutation is that the strategy adopted by the government through the Department of State Security (DSS) magnified IPOB, which Kanu leads and shot his popularity up to high heavens. His popularity rating was boosted when he was denied bail after orders to do so by several courts of competent jurisdiction. Kanu was arraigned by the DSS on November 23, 2015 in an Abuja Magistrate Court for the first time for charges of “criminal conspiracy, intimidation and membership of an illegal organisation.” The charges, they said violated “Section 97, 97B and 397” of Nigeria’s penal code.

On the date of the case, Kanu’s supporters stormed Abuja in luxury buses on a peaceful protest for their leader who was arraigned before the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate Court with placards amid dancing and singing outside the court premises whilst hearing proceeded. Protesters wore T-shirts and caps with inscriptions like “Biafra Now or Never”, “Buhari Release Kanu For Us”, “On Biafra We Stand”.

The government ignored initial court orders calling for Kanu’s bail before bowing to the recent one, which eventually led to his release on bail, on April, 28, 2017. But the bail conditions were harsh as the IPOB leader was banned from public speaking, granting press interviews or being in a group of more than 10 people.

As a condition of that bail, Kanu was also asked to bring a prominent Igbo leader, a wealthy resident of Abuja and a senior Nigerian Jewish leader to provide N100m ($260,000; £200,000) each as surety to the court. So, from the government’s perspective, Kanu is an enemy of the state whose activities should be nipped in the bud. But for very many others, he is a hero and a prisoner of conscience.

While he was in prison, many prominent Nigerians including Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, former governor of Abia State and eminent businessman, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof Charles Soludo among others visited him and further made him a celebrity even while in detention.

Cult figure among Ndigbo

Among Ndigbo worldwide, particularly in the South East zone, Kanu has become a small god. In the social media, pictures of those who are short of worshipping him like a deity have often appeared in some platforms. His Abia State home has become a Mecca of some sorts. Going by the figures from Amnesty International, more than 150 Igbo youths were martyred in the struggle for his release.

Many still wonder why the leader of IPOB has overshadowed his counterpart and founder of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra(MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike. Not a few believe that the average Igbo youth sees Kanu as the new face of the Biafran struggle unlike Uwazuruike who had been around over the years with allegations of having compromised the spirit of the fight for liberation. The youth in the South East see him as the true son of Biafra having remained unbowed despite the intimidation and harassment in the hands of the state.

Kanu is worshipped and deified because in the eyes of many, he did what many Igbo leaders were either too afraid to do or unwilling to do because of their selfish interests. He dared to be different and spoke out against the powers that be whose project appears to have been to always put the Igbo at a disadvantage in the nation’s scheme of things. Many believe that Kanu has successfully taken up the gauntlet and waged a mind war against the establishment, hence his popularity among the Igbo masses.

Sit-At-Home Order

On Tuesday, May 30 , the entire South East was shut down following the sit-at-home order by the Kanu’s IPOB, to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the defunct Republic of Biafra and to honour heroes and heroines of the struggle. Apart from the East, the directive was partly complied with in Port Harcourt, Asaba and Bayelsa but ignored in Uyo.

Most markets, banks and schools in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states, including those in the rural areas, were closed and the roads were totally deserted in the early hours of the morning. In Enugu, the order was also largely complied with as schools, banks, markets and other commercial activities were paralysed, with police helicopters hovering around the state capital. The shutdown of the states was in spite of the plea by South-East governors and massive police and security presence, who patrolled streets and carried out air surveillance with helicopters to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order.

Following the success of the sit-at-home directive, IPOB congratulated Ndigbo worldwide for showing total compliance with the order. IPOB, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Mr Emma Powerful, said the compliance with the directive was an indication that Ndigbo all over the world were tired of the Nigerian federation and ready to leave the country. His words: “Our Supreme Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu issued this order of sit-at-home when he was still in Kuje Prisons, Abuja and it has come to pass. All the people of Biafra both at home and abroad complied in totality without any compulsion, which has not happened in the history of the Biafran struggle.”