Debunking the fake news
It has been an interesting couple of days. Yesterday there were lots of published articles shared online about a UK government decision to treat IPOB as a proscribed terrorist group.
A trusted friend of mine sent a link via WhatsApp to one of the articles which I, in turn, shared on my Facebook page and my tiny WhatsApp group. When sharing the post on WhatsApp and Facebook I simply copied key bits of the article to accompany the link.
Within an hour of me posting the article a member of my WhatsApp group debunked the article explaining that the trending news was misleading, IPOB had not been designated as a terrorist group by the British government.
Many Nigerians avoid being called Nigerian. I prefer to be called Biafran or Igbo.
Blanket asylum offered to all IPOB/MASSOB members withdrawn
I was relieved to learn that the UK had not designated IPOB a terrorist group but disappointed that the UK government’s plan to grant blanket asylum applications to IPOB and MASSOB members fleeing persecution, had been watered down to offering asylum on a case-by-case basis. In my opinion, this demonstrates that the UK government has probably bowed to pressure from the Nigerian government. To my mind, this amounts to the removal of asylum to IPOB and MASSOB via the back door by offering to look at applications for asylum on a case-by-case basis. In other words, the threshold of proof has been increased and most applications will fail.
The state-sponsored kidnapping of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has served to galvanise the global diaspora.
Is the UK Country report on Nigeria fake news?
Like many other commentators, I have read the UK Country report on Nigeria with dismay. Most of the sources relied upon to make the report are those that support Buhari’s corrupt regime. There are insufficient sources in support of the opposition, so the final report lacks balance. It was so disappointing to see pieces by Sahara Reporters quoted in the Country report bearing in mind Omoyele Sowore’s stated support of Nnamdi Kanu and the Biafra struggle generally. Here is a link to the report:
One of the side effects of the proliferation of social media is the ability of those in Nigeria to share information with the Nigerians in the global diaspora and the daily influx of daily gory photographs and videos of those who are being murdered and maimed in Nigeria’s insecurity problem have clearly not been considered by the UK officials who compiled the Country report. Nigeria does not have an insecurity problem. Nigeria is conducting a silent civil war. To that end, the UK Country report on Nigeria qualifies as fake news.
Biafrans, Oduduwas and others have been regularly protesting at Downing Street London and other London locations since Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was kidnapped in June 2021
Is the UK planning to send IPOB/MASSOB asylum applicants off to Rwanda?
The UK government is more than likely keen to row back on plans for asylum for IPOB and MASSOB members because of the Russia-Ukraine war and the influx into the UK of refugees from Ukraine. The British public has welcomed Ukrainian refugees in an unprecedented way. I started my legal career in the UK as an immigration lawyer and spent several years working on asylum cases and never saw this level of support for black or brown refugees. In fact, quite the opposite. IPOB/MASSOB asylum seekers would never be welcomed in the same way, certainly not with open arms and into British homes. In fact, bearing in mind the UK government’s plans to send black and brown immigrants to Rwanda it is unclear what the UK government’s position would be in relation to IPOB/MASSOB members from Nigeria.
The case of Nazanin Zaghari-Radcliffe and the shameless scramble for oil
The UK government is looking for alternative sources to Russian oil and gas. The case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is instructive. Nazanin lost 6 years of her life held in custody in Iran on suspicion of espionage. Her white British husband, Richard Radcliffe campaigned hard for her release for the 6 years including going on hunger strike. Richard Ratcliffe always argued that his wife was being held as a pawn to pressure the UK government to repay the monies owed to Iran following an arms deal from the 1970s. He was right.
When the Russian Ukraine war broke out on 24 February 2022, the UK government apparently approached Iran for oil. To clear the way for negotiations, they reportedly paid the sums owed and Nazanin was released and flew back to Britain to her husband and daughter on or about 16 March 2022. The UK government claimed that Britain had never denied owing the money and that progress in making the payment was hampered by the US sanctions on Iran which meant that the UK could not pay out the sums unless certain safeguards were in place. Once the monies were paid and Nazanin released Iran still refused to supply the UK with oil.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard and daughter Gabriella in their first family selfie since Nazanin’s release. Photograph: Tulip Siddiq
Britain is eyeing up Biafran oil. Again.
Other oil producers are back in the frame including Nigeria with its vast oil and gas reserves mainly in Biafra or the South-eastern region. Rumour has it that Buhari’s regime has agreed to sell Biafra’s oil and gas to the UK at any price that the UK wants provided the UK government aids in suppressing the clamour for a referendum for Biafra to leave Nigeria. Britain will be anxious to avoid dealing with a free Biafra in case they demand a fair deal and end the exploitation of Nigeria and its resources. The question as far as Britain’s historical exploitation of Nigeria must be, when will the exploitation end? Britain has had its knee firmly on Nigeria’s neck for centuries before and after the sham impendence in 1960. Nigeria is now the poverty capital of the world, so this exploitation is literally squeezing the life out of everyday Nigerians who live in unbelievable relentless grinding poverty.
The Nigerian army, police and security forces are fully integrated by Boko Haram, ISWAP and other terrorists who murder any protesters. Protest in Nigeria will be way of sit-at-home while the global diaspora will continue to take to the streets.
It suits British greed to describe Biafra as a separatist group – the truth is that ALL the trapped nationalities in contraption Nigeria are clamouring for freedom
What the UK Home Office country report fails to mention is that ALL the main geopolitical groups in Nigeria are pressing to leave Nigeria including a leading northern forum! Put a different way, that would be like Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland all clamouring to leave the United Kingdom and a foreign government focussing on suppressing one of the home countries e.g., Scotland simply because like Biafra they are the most vociferous of all the groups clamouring for freedom. The Home Office Country report is inaccurate, deceptive, and dishonest to say the least. But we cannot be surprised. Britain’s relationship with Nigeria has always been founded on greed and exploitation.
Biafra’s lead broadcaster is Simon Ekpa
Finland based lawyer and broadcaster, Simon Ekpa is IPOB’s leading platform, and he did a state of the nation broadcast yesterday to shoot down the fake news about the United Kingdom describing IPOB as a proscribed organisation.
Simon Ekpa has become the lead Biafran broadcaster.
You can see the full broadcast by clicking this link https://youtu.be/EaTKZ5h3I8k
The UK government is clearly paying pay careful attention to Simon’s broadcasts because news broke while Simon was on air that the UK government had put out a statement debunking the rumour. The press statement is below.
Simon urged Biafrans and others in the struggle to boycott any platform that had shared the links stating that the UK had designated IPOB a proscribed group. By this time, I had taken down my Facebook post however, as I put the post up in good faith, I failed to understand why I and others were being insulted for relying on sources of information that had previously proved reliable.
Why we must conduct our struggle with love, justice and peace
I was lucky to have somebody in my circle that immediately alerted me that it was fake news. However, I do not believe that anyone should have been insulted for sharing information in good faith. If a platform failed to remove the post once they had been notified, that would be a problem.
It is very important in this freedom fight that we learn to communicate with each other with as much calmness and human compassion as we can muster. Public mudslinging and exchanging of insults will not move any of us closer to our freedom. The rotten eggs that occupy government positions in Aso Rock and Downing Street are counting on those who have infiltered the struggle to keep up the mudslinging going to ensure that we are never painted in a compassionate light in the eyes of the rest of the world. There are many British people who would be completely horrified if they understood what British High Commissioner, Catriona Laing and co are doing in Nigeria in their name. We stand a better chance of communicating the issues to these good British people by conducting ourselves in the best way possible as we push forward.
Dressed head toe in the colours of Oduduwa Nation, this wonderful lady explains why the trapped nationalities within Nigeria desperately need freedom
We are living in extremely tense times with the ongoing Russia Ukraine war and the risk of this spilling out into World War Three. The second civil war in Nigeria is ongoing even though the corrupt media refer to the unfolding genocide as “insecurity”. The last thing we need is to pile distress upon distress.
In Africa and in my case Igbo tradition we understand the power of the tongue and that is what I bore in mind in naming my platform: –
Love, because this makes us deal with each other with kindness. Justice because it is the bedrock of any civilised society that cares for the vulnerable. Any society in which people love each other and administer justice fairly will be peaceful.
This is my hope and prayer for all the trapped nationalities in contraption Nigeria. I hope that we inspire generations to come as we march to freedom leaving the worst of Nigeria behind.
#BeKind #LoveJusticePeace