A faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has issued a stern warning to people supporting the agitation for the independence of Biafra from overseas.
The pro-Igbo sociocultural organisation described the support for Biafra from abroad as cowardice, especially while the economic and social activities of people in the South-East are adversely affected.
The group also threw a subtle shade at the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who was based in the UK for some time until he was arrested and renditioned to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021, and others based overseas.
Many Biafra agitators are based overseas, including Simon Ekpa, an outspoken, self-acclaimed disciple of Kanu who lives in Finland.
This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the Secretary-General of the group.
The group stated that it has observed that there are some sets of persons fanning the embers of violence in the region while hiding in their comfort zones in Europe and America.
It described this as an act of cowardice, saying they should come to Nigeria where they can take the lead in the Biafra agitations.
Ohanaeze noted that an end had come for people in such a category.
The statement read in part, “We warn that the era of Biafra agitators residing in Europe, Asia and America giving directives to Igbos have ended, they should relocate to Nigeria to physically lead the struggle, as it’s an act of cowardice to hide in your comfort zone in Europe, and America to lead Biafra agitation.”
The group also asked IPOB to apologise for declaring a sit-at-home in southeastern Nigeria, which the pro-Biafra organisation says has been hijacked by hoodlums, who now enforce the exercise every Monday.
Ohanaeze said if IPOB had not declared the sit-at-home in the first place, the violence and dip in the economic fortune of the region occasioned by the exercise would never have happened.
