The Unquestionable Right
of the Igbo to Actualize Biafara
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name:
And deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy names sake.
Wherefore should the heathen say, where is their God
Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the
revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
Let the sighting of the prisoner come before thee;
According to the greatness of thy power preserve thou
those that are appointed to die;
And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom
their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever:
We will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
Psalm 79: 9 -13
****
Elderstatesman Maazi Julius Nyerere
NIGERIAN POGROM & JANUARY 15: BEFORE AND AFTER.
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
Before we continue on this subject, we ask that you look at the map below:
The Guardian Online http://www.ngrguardiannews.com
In
the course of my investigations, I came across witnesses who testified
to methods of extermination which
I found so gruesome and barbarous that
it is difficult to describe in any detail. These are :-
(i) Execution in the Market Places. This involved the slitting of throats and the chopping of heads in the market place.
(ii) The killing of unborn babies. In this the stomachs of
pregnant women were slit open, and the tiny unborn babies slashed with
matchets.
(iii) The plucking of eyes out of their sockets. One of
the witnesses who testified to me had his left eye plucked out and he
mentioned that he was the last of a queue of Biafran Prisoners-of-war
who were having their eyes plucked out, and that he was able to run away
with one eye because when it came to his turn, an alarm was given of a
Biafran advance, and the plucker had to run for his gun, thus making it
possible for him to escape with one eye.
Other
barbarous methods, too indecent to discuss in detail, were also
mentioned by eye-witnesses. These included chopping off of the male
genital organ and plugging it into the mouths of the victims.
There
was also testimony regarding the ravishing of virgins, which consisted
of slitting open the female organ by means of broken bottles or
bayonets. Eight witnesses who testified to me of this had survived this
barbarity, but they mentioned a great many other women who had died as a
result of it.
(iv)
The skinning of life Biafrans. Witnesses who testified to this method
of extermination mentioned that they were eye witnesses, and that
invariably all the victims of this died as a result of the skinning. The
method of skinning alive as was testified to me, was by means of
broken bottles. This incident occurred in Ishagu. Twenty-two males were
skinned in this manner, as per the testimony of one witness who
mentioned witnessing
this process.
Dr. Mensah
An International Commission of Jurist Find Prima Facie Evidence of Genocide
****
Only
the uninformed and those in bed with the perpetrators, can deny the
survivors of a pogrom, genocide, holocaust, and planned marginalization
designed to finally accomplish what they were unable to accomplish in
war, the final solution extermination, the only possible relief an
independent state (country).
We
the members of the organizations that make up the coalition, Ndi
Nche, a pro Igbo Biafara coalition, believe that any emerging Igbo
Nation State must be built solidly on truth (Eziokwu bu Ndu Truth is
the foundation of Life), on the philosophy and Omenala of our
fore-parents, that OHA must always remain supreme, and the Rule of
Law must never be compromised, nor must any elevate himself/herself
above the law.
We
give thanks to Chi Ukwu (The Supreme One), the Mighty Yah, for making
it possible for Igbo to continue as a viable nation despite the
continuing holocaust, genocide, marginalization, and all the harrowing
impediments placed on the path of the Igbo to bring the Igbo nation to
her knees.
Yes, our heads have been bloodied;
Yes, the world did turn her back on us;
Yes, our kin and kindred were massacred in their millions;
Yes, our land continue to be laid waste;
Yes, a planned marginalization continue to be enforced against Ndi Igbo;
Yes, traitors continue to be anointed as our leaders;
Yes, our properties continue to be looted;
But Ama Ama Amasi Amasi The Unknowable and Unfathomable
One the Mighty Yah, has not forgotten the promise He/She made to our
ancestors, including Abiama (Abraham) All praise and glory to Chineke,
the Mighty Yah.
We
are reminded of the prophesy of a very special elder-statesman, Maazi
Frederick Forsyth, who even as the destruction of Biafra was no longer
in doubt, was convinced that defeat was only a minor set back. He knew
that the crimes committed against the Igbo was so inhuman and brutal
that the leaders of Nigeria had consciously pushed Igbo out of Nigeria:
What
had started as a belief was transmuted to total conviction; that they
could never again live with Nigerians. From this stems the primordial
political reality of the present situation. Biafra cannot be killed by
anything short of total eradication of the people who make her. For even
under total occupation Biafra would sooner or without Colonel Ojukwu,
rise up again.
The Biafra Story
By the Elder-statesman Maazi Frederick Forsyth (1968)
****
Elderstatesman Maazi Julius Nyerere
NIGERIAN POGROM & JANUARY 15: BEFORE AND AFTER.
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
Before we continue on this subject, we ask that you look at the map below:
The Guardian Online http://www.ngrguardiannews.com
Assuming
it is necessary to make a case for Biafara Actualization, what better
elder-statesman than
Maazi Julius Nyerere (President), can Igbo call on
to make her case!
The Case for Actualization of the Sovereign Republic of Igbo Biafara
By the Elderstatesman Maazi Julius Nyerere
"Tanzania has recognized the State of Israel and will
continue to do so because of its belief that every people must have some
place in the world where they are not liable to be rejected by their
fellow citizens. But the Biafrans have now suffered the same kind of
rejection within their state that the Jews of Germany experienced.
Fortunately they already had a homeland.
They have retreated to it for their own protection, and
for the same reason - after all other efforts had failed - they have
declared it to be an independent state. In the light of these
circumstances, Tanzania feels obliged to recognize the setback to
African unity which has occurred.
We therefore recognize the State of Biafra as an
independent sovereign entity, and as a member of the community of
nations. Only by this act of recognition can we remain true to our
conviction that the purpose of society, and of all political
organization, is the service of Man" Elder-statesman Maazi Julius Nyerere
****
"The Declaration of Independence by Biafra on the 30th
May, 1967 came after two military coups d'etat in January and July
1966 - and two major pogroms against the Ibo (Igbo) people. These
pogroms, which also took place in 1966, resulted in the death of about
30,000 men, women, and children, and made two million people flee from
their homes in other parts of Nigeria to the tribal homeland in Eastern
Nigeria. These events have been interspersed and followed by official
discussions about a new
constitution for Nigeria, and also by continued personal attacks on
individual Ibos who have remained outside the Eastern Region.
The basic case for Biafra's secession from the Nigerian
Federation is that people from the Eastern Region can no longer feel
save in other parts of the Federation. They are not accepted as citizens
of Nigeria by the other citizens of Nigeria. Not only is it impossible
for Ibos and people of related tribes to live in assurance of personal
safety if they work outside Biafra; it would also be impossible for any
representative of these people to move freely and without fear in any
other part of the
Federation of Nigeria.
These fears are genuine and deep-seated; nor can anyone
say they are groundless. The rights and wrongs of the original coup
d'etat, the rights and wrongs of the attitudes taken by different groups
in the politics of pre and post coup Nigeria, are all irrelevant to the
fear which Ibo people feel.
And the people of Eastern Nigeria can point to too many
bereaved homes, too many maimed people, for anyone to deny the
reasonable grounds for their fears. It is these fears which are the root
cause both for the secession, and for the fanaticism with which the
people of Eastern Nigeria have defended the country they declared to be
independent. Fears such as now exist among the Ibo people do not
disappear because someone says they are unjustified, of says that the
rest of Nigeria does not want to
exterminate Ibos (Igbos). Such words have even less effect when the
speakers have made no attempt to bring the perpetrators of crimes to
justice, and when troops under the control of the Federal Nigerian
authorities continue to ill-treat, or allow others to ill-treat, any Ibo
who come within their power. The only way to remove the Easterners'
fear is for the Nigerian authorities to accept its existence, to
acknowledge the reason for it, and then to talk on terms of equality
with those involved about the way forward.
When people have reason to be afraid you cannot reassure
them through the barrel of a gun; your only hope is to talk as one man
to another, or as one group to another. It is no use the Federal
authorities demanding that the persecuted should come as a supplicant
for mercy, by first renouncing their secession from the political unit.
For the secession was declared because the Ibo (Igbo) people felt it to
be their only defence against extermination. In their minds, therefore, a
demand that should
renounce secession before talks begun, is equivalent to a demand that
they should announce their willingness to be exterminated. If they are
wrong in this belief they have to be convinced. And they can only be
convinced by talks leading to new institutional arrangements which take
account of their fears.
The people of Biafra have announced their willingness to
talk to the Nigerian authorities without any conditions. They cannot
renounce their secession before talks, but they do not demand that
Nigerians should recognize it; they ask for talks without conditions.
But the Federal Authorities have refused to talk except on the basis of
Biafran surrender. And as the Biafrans believe they will be massacred if
they surrender, the Federal authorities are really refusing to talk at
all. For human beings
do not voluntarily walk towards what they believe to be certain death.
The federal Government argues that in demanding the renunciation of
secession before talks, and indeed in its entire "police action", it is
defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria. On this ground it argues
also that it has a right to demand support from all other governments,
and especially other African governments. For every state, and every
state authority, has a duty to defend the sovereignty and integrity of
its nation;
this is a central part of the function of a national government.
Africa accepts the validity of this point, for African
states have more reason than most to fear the effects of disintegration.
It is on these grounds that Africa has watched the massacre of tens of
thousands of peoples, has watched millions being made into refugees,
watched the employment of mercenaries by both sides in the current civil
war, and has accepted repeated rebuffs of its offers to help by
mediation or conciliation.
But for how long should this continue Africa fought for
freedom on the ground of individual liberty and equality, and on the
grounds that every people must have the right to determine for
themselves the conditions under which they would be governed. We accept
the boundaries we inherited from colonialism, and within them we each
worked out for ourselves the constitutional and other arrangements which
we felt to be appropriate to the most essential function of a state -
that is the safeguarding of
life and liberty for its inhabitants.
When the Federation of Nigeria became independent in 1960,
the same policy was adopted by all its peoples. They accepted the
Federal structure which had been established under the colonial system,
and declared their intention to work together. Indeed, the Southern
States of the Federation - which includes Biafra - delayed their own
demands for independence until the North was ready to join them. At the
insistence of the North also, the original suggestion of the National
Council for Nigeria and
the Cameroons (the political party which had its centre in the South)
that Nigeria should be broken up into many small states with a strong
centre, was abandoned. The South accepted a structure which virtually
allowed the more populous North to dominate the rest.
But the constitution of the Federation of Nigeria was
broken in January, 1966, by the first military coup. All hope of its
resuscitation was removed by the second coup, and even more by the
pogroms of September and October, 1966. These events altered the whole
basis of the society; after them it was impossible for political and
economic relations between the different parts of the old Federation to
be restored. They meant that Nigerian unity could only be salvaged from
the wreck of inter-tribal
violence and fear by a constitution drawn up in the light of what had
happened, and which was generally acceptable to all major elements of
the society under the new circumstances. A completely new start had to
be made, for the basis of the state had been dissolved in the complete
break-down of law and order, and the inter-tribal violence which
existed.
The necessity for a new start by agreement was accepted by
a Conference of military leaders from all parts of the Federation, in
Aburi, Ghana, in January, 1967. There is a certain difference of opinion
about some of the things which were agreed at the Conference. But there
is no dispute about the fact that everyone joined in a Declaration
renouncing the use of force as a means of settling the crisis in
Nigeria. Nor does anyone dispute that it was agreed that a new
constitution was to be worked out
by agreement, and that in the meantime there would be a repeal of all
military decrees issued since January, 1966 which reduced the powers of
the Region. There was also agreement about rehabilitation payments for
those who had been forced to flee from their homes, and about members of
the armed forces being stationed in their home Regions.
The Aburi Conference could have provided the new start
which was necessary if the unity of Nigeria was to be maintained. But
before the end of the same month, General Gowon was restating his
commitment to the creation of new states, and his determination to
oppose any form of confederation. And on the last day of January, the
Federal military authorities were already giving administrative reasons
for delay in the implementation of the Agreements reached at Aburi. It
was the middle of March before
a constitutional decree was issued which was supposed to regularize the
position in accordance with with the decisions taken there. But
unfortunately this Decree also included a new clause - which had not
been agreed - and which gave the Federal authorities a reserve power
over the Regions, and thus completely nullified the whole operation. Nor
had any payment been made by the Federal Government to back up the
monetary commitment for rehabilitation which it had accepted in the
Ghana meeting.
In short, the necessity for an arrangement which would
take account of the fears created during 1966 was accepted at Aburi, and
renounced thereafter by the Federal authorities. Yet they now claim to
be defending the integrity of the country in which they failed to
guarantee the most elementary safety of the twelve million peoples of
Eastern Nigeria. These people had been massacred in other parts of
Nigeria without the Federal authorities apparently having either the
will or the power to protect
them. When they retreated to their homeland they were expected to accept
the domination of the same people who instigated, or allowed, their
persecution in the country which they are being told is theirs - i.e.,
Nigeria.
Surely, when a whole people is rejected by the majority of
the state in which they live, they must have the life to life under a
different kind of arrangement which does secure their existence. States
are made to serve people; governments are established to protect the
citizens of a state against external enemies and internal wrong-doers.
It is on those grounds that people surrender their right
and power of self-defence to the Government of the state in which they
live. But when the machinery of the state, and the powers of the
Government, are turned against a whole group of the society on the
grounds of racial, tribal, or religious prejudice, then the victims have
the right to take back the powers they have surrendered, and to defend
themselves.
For while people have a duty to defend the integrity of
their state, and even to die in its defence, this duty stems from the
fact that it is theirs, and that it is important to their wellbeing and
to the future of their children. When the state ceases to stand for
honor, the protection, and the wellbeing of all its citizens, then it is
no longer the instrument of those it has rejected. In such a case the
people have the right to create another instrument for their protection -
in other words, to
create another state. This right cannot be abrogated by constitutions,
nor by outsiders. The basis of statehood, and of unity can only be
general acceptance by the participants. When more than twelve million
people have become convinced that they are rejected, and that there is
no longer any basis for unity between them and other groups of people,
then that unity has ceased to exist. You cannot kill thousands of
people, and keep killing more, in the name of unity. There is no unity
between the dead and those
who killed them; and there is no unity in slavery or domination.
Africa needs unity. We need unity over the whole
continent, and in the meantime we need unity within the existing states
of Africa. It is a tragedy when we experience a setback to our goal of
unity. But the basis of our need for unity, and the reason for our
desire for it, is the greater wellbeing, and the greater security, of
the people of Africa. Unity by conquest is impossible. It is not
practicable; and even if military might could force the acceptance of a
particular authority, the purpose
of unity would have been destroyed. For the purpose of unity, its
justification, is the service of all the peoples who are united
together. The general consent of all the people involved is the only
basis on which unity in Africa can be maintained or extended.
The fact that the Federation of Nigeria was created in
1960 with the consent of all the people does not alter that fact. That
Federation, and the basis of consent, has since been destroyed.
Nor is this the first time the world has seen a reduction
in political unity. We have seen the creation of the Mali Federation,
the creation of a Union between Egypt and Syria, and the establishment
of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. And we have also seen the
dissolution of all these attempts at unity, and the consequent
recognition of the separate nations which were once involved. The world
has also seen the creation of India and Pakistan out of what was once
the Indian Empire. We have
all recognized both of these nation states and done our best to help
them deal with the millions of people made homeless by the conflict and
division. None of these things meant that we have liked these examples
of great disunity. They meant that we recognize that in all these cases
the people are unwilling to remain in one political unit.
Tanzania recognizes Senegal, Mali, Egypt, Syria, Malawi,
Zambia, Pakistan and Egypt. What right have we to refuse, in the name of
unity, to recognize the fact of Biafra? For years the people of that
state struggled to maintain unity with the other peoples in the
Federation of Nigeria; even after the pogroms of 1966 they tried to work
out a new form of unity which would guarantee their safety; they have
demonstrated by ten months of bitter fighting that they have decided
upon a new political organization
and are willing to defend it.
The world has taken it upon itself to utter many
ill-informed criticisms of the Jews of Europe for going to their deaths
without any concerted struggle. But out of sympathy for the sufferings
of this people, and in recognition of the world's failure to take action
at the appropriate time, the United Nations established the State of
Israel in territory which belonged to the Arabs for thousands of years.
It was felt that only by the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and a
Jewish national state,
could Jews be expected to live in the world under conditions of human
security.
Tanzania has recognized the State of Israel and will
continue to do so because of its belief that every people must have some
place in the world where they are not liable to be rejected by their
fellow citizens. But the Biafrans have now suffered the same kind of
rejection within their state that the Jews of Germany experienced.
Fortunately they already had a homeland. They have retreated to it for
their own protection, and for the same reason - after all other efforts
had failed - they have declared
it to be an independent state.
In the light of these circumstances, Tanzania feels
obliged to recognize the setback to African unity which has occurred. We
therefore recognize the State of Biafra as an independent sovereign
entity, and as a member of the community of nations. Only by this act of
recognition can we remain true to our conviction that the purpose of
society, and of all political organization, is the service of Man."
President Julius Nyerere-led government of Tanzania offers
Recognition to the Republic of Biafra. Published by the Government
printer in Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salam on April 13,1968.
****
Elderstatesman Maazi Julius Nyerere
NIGERIAN POGROM & JANUARY 15: BEFORE AND AFTER.
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
Before we continue on this subject, we ask that you look at the map below:
The Guardian Online http://www.ngrguardiannews.com
And
for those who still doubt the war crimes, genocide, holocaust, and
planned marginalization committed against Biafrans, below are a few
reports that make it impossible to deny Ndi Igbo the Actualization of
the Sovereign Republic of Biafara.
The Brutality, Inhumanity, Planned Marginalization, Genocide and Holocaust
Easterners, those who were able, took flight and all the
entry routes to the East were jammed. At their heels were hordes of
Northerners shooting or clubbing down straggling women and children and
hunting down those in the bush. The climax to the holocaust was reached
on 29th September, as the Lagos Constitutional Conference was about to
adjourn. At the Kano International Airport, Easterners waiting to be
airlifted home were surrounded by armed Northern soldiers and civilians
and massacred. Those
who took trains ran into ambushes of Northern soldiers and civilians who
looted their belongings and maimed thousands.
Some of the extremes of savagery reached by our supposed
Northern fellow- countrymen are so bizarre that they defy description.
There were numerous cases of decapitation of living victims. A number of
student- survivors from institutions of learning in Northern Nigeria
were captured and all the fingers of their right hands chopped off
before they were rereleased. That would help in curtailing, they were
told, the educational lead of Eastern Nigria over the North. There are
several eyewitness accounts
of pregnant women of Eastern Nigeria origin who were ripped open and
their unborn children hacked to pieces, and accounts (most of them given
by the actual victims themselves) of women, some of them pregnant, who
were forcibly held down by Northern soldiers or civilians while lepers
raped them. Also, while hundreds of Easterners found genuine refuge from
their predators in police stations in the North, several others were
turned upon and slaughtered by Northern policemen in the very police
stations to which they
had fled for protection. Until recently, there was a juvenile of about
sixteen lying critically ill in a ward at the Enugu General Hospital who
had been raped repeatedly by several Northern soldiers. These soldiers
had thereafter proceeded to savage her genitals with a sharp object,
then filled it with sand, and finally, almost completely gouged her
right eye with a dagger!"
NIGERIAN POGROM & JANUARY 15: BEFORE AND AFTER.
****
We
do not want, Sir, our Southern neighbours to interfere in our
development.... I should like to make it clear to you that if the
British quitted Nigeria now at this stage the northern people would
continue their interrupted conquest to the sea.
Mallam Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1947)
Later to become Prime Minister of Nigeria
1945 Northern Moslems kill HUNDREDS of IGBO civilians in
the Northern city of JOS and loot their properties worth hundreds of
millions of dollars!
1953
Northern Moslems pounce on IGBO civilians in the Northern city of KANO,
HUNDREDS of IGBO men and women are killed and their property worth in
the hundreds of millions are looted!
The
seeds of the trouble which broke out in Kano on May 1953 have their
counterparts still in the ground. It could happen again, and only a
realization and acceptance of the underlying causes can remove the
danger of recurrence.
Official Report of the 1953 Massacre in Kano
British Administrative officer
Mr.
Chairman, Sir, since 1955 this government had laid down a policy. First
Northerners, second Expatriates and third non-northerners. Mr.
Chairman, Sir, I have noted very carefully all the speeches made by all
the Members in the Honourable House and I am ready to put up to my
Government their views and I hope my Government will give them
consideration ... I think these two things are the major things I have
to answer now. One is on scholarship
and the other is on how to do away with the Ibos.
Alhaji Mustafa Ismaila Zanna Dujuna (Minister of Establishments and training)
AN INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS FIND
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
1966 * MAY * JULY * SEPTEMBER *
(The worst pogrom in all of Africa up to that time!)
It
is pertinent to observe that the Atrocities Tribunal found as a fact
that the Northern Nigeria authorities with their collaborators had
devised a seven point program aimed at a complete extermination of the
then Eastern Nigerians (now Biafrans) in Northern Nigeria and other
parts of the federation. The program is outlined as follows:
1. (a) to kill off the Major-general and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, T. J. T. Aguiyi-Ironsi;
(b) to kill off all Yamiri (Igbo) Army officers;
(c) and subsequently purge the Army of Yamiri by killing the rest in the ranks.
2.
With the aid of the Westerners in the army, to take complete control of
the Armed Forces, the Police and the Navy and to purge off the Yamiri
in these forces too.
3. To kill off and dispossess all the Yamiri domiciled in the Northern region.
4. To use the control of the Armed Forces to take control of the country's Government.
5. To revenge Sarduana's and Abubakar's death by killing Dr. Zik, Dr. Okpara, Ojukwu and Major Nzeogwu.
6. To destroy Port Harcourt, Enugu and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
7. To kill all
(a) Yamiri in top civil service posts;
(b) all wealthy Yamiri - male and female;
(c) all Yamiri educational giants;
(d) all grown up males and females of Yamiri;
(e) to leave out only sucklings in yamiri land.
(Tribunal Report pp. 133 - 134)
AN INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS FIND
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
The army was even more deeply involved. The following
graphic report was given to the Atrocities tribunal by Paul I. Okwawa,
the teacher we mentioned earlier, should silence the argument as to
whether or not Nigerians had the intention to exterminate Biafrans:
At 6.30 p.m. on October 1st we arrived at the (Kano)
Airport and to my greatest surprise I saw a sight that drove fear into
my heart. Literally all the Northern ex-politicians had gathered at the
airport in their immaculate white gowns. I saw Aminu Kano. I saw Maitama
Sule, Inua Wada. Many Europeans also came to the Airport. Exactly at
6.50 p.m. soldiers in green shirts and trousers invaded the Airport.
I had a presentiment that something bad was in the air,
and as we sat near our luggage we wondered whether these ex-politicians
and their European, Asian and Arab friends had come to witness the final
liquidation of our people. Soon shots were heard everywhere. That day
was declared a public holiday, and as usual many Ibos came to the
airport ....
one soldier ordered me outside and asked me where I came
from. When I told him I was a Mid-Westerner he told me I was lying
because he knew where I came from. What I heard was About turn! Quick
march I heard a shot behind me and I fell down and passed out.
How long I was there before I came round I could not
tell. But when I became conscious, a heap of dead men was on me. Some
still breathing but others stone dead. It took me some time to extricate
myself from the dead bodies heaped upon me. I crept over other dead
bodies as I tried to hide because soldiers were still shooting people in
their hiding places at the airport...
AN INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS FIND
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
Bestialities and indignities of all kinds were visited on
Biafrans in 1966. In Ikeja Barracks (Western Nigeria) Biafrans were
forcibly fed on a mixture of human urine and feaces. In Northern Nigeria
numerous Biafran house-wives and nursing mothers were raped before
their husbands and children. Young girls were abducted from their homes,
working places and schools and forced into sexual intercourse with
sick, demented and leprous men.
Mr. Erif Spiff (Eye witness)
Atrocities Tribunal
AN INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS FIND
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
Finally,
the monstrous atrocities which accompanied the groesome massacres of
1966 bore testimony to the fact that the perpetrators were religiously
intent on genocide. There were numerous cases of torture and
humiliation, maiming and mutilation, gouging out of the eyes and tearing
out of the womb, slaughter and decapitation - atrocities which can only
be explained by the determination of the perpetrators to destroy
Biafrans in every conceivable
way. A witness, Dick Iwobi, described to the Atrocities Tribunal an
outrageous method of murder which Northern Nigerians practised on
Biafrans:
This punishment is one of the most dreadful way of
crucifying a person. A heavy rod is tied across the back of the chest of
the victim with his hands stretched and secured firmly on the rod.
While the victim may still be standing on his legs, he is as helpless as
a man nailed to a cross. In this position they then proceed to torture
the victim by plucking his eyes, cutting his tongue or cutting his
testicles .
AN INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS FIND
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
Band
of killers, mostly Moslems, in all Hamlets, Villages, Towns and Cities
in Northern Nigeria carried out one of the most barbaric pogroms in
contemporary history against the Igbo living in Northern Nigeria. At the
end of three waves of all-out massacres, FIFTY THOUSAND IGBO (and other
Easterner Nigerians) were slaughtered. Among the dead were men and
women of all ages, as well as children. Unborn fetuses were not spared
during these three
months when armed marauders prowled everywhere outside of Eastern
Nigeria, hunting Igbo people down like animals: Pregnant Igbo women were
captured, their bellies ripped open and their unborn children hacked to
death.
1967 - 1970 (Nigeria - Biafra War)
Let
us go and crush them. We will pillage their property, rape their
womenfolk, kill off their menfolk and leave them uselessly weeping. We
will complete the pogrom of 1966"
The theme song of Radio Kaduna, government-controlled, is the above chant in Hausa.
There
has been genocide, for example on the occasion of the 1966 massacres
... Two areas have suffered badly [from the fighting]. Firstly the
region between the towns of Benin and asaba where only widows and
orphans remain, Federal troops having for unknown reasons massacred all
the men. According to eyewitnesses of that massacre the Nigerian
commander ordered the execution of every Ibo male over the age of ten
years. Monsignor Georges (sent down on a fact-finding mission by His holiness the Pope)
Le Monde (French evening newspaper)
April 5, 1968
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
DAN JACOBS
All
is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't
see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight
harder.
Chief Awolowo (Minister of Finance)
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
DAN JACOBS
Unfortunately
this [Gowon's] enlightenment at the top level does not penetrate very
deep: a lagos police officer was quoted last month as saying that the
Ibos must be considerably reduced in number
Dr Conor cruise O'Bien
21 December 1967
New York review
The
same UNICEF representative went on to convey something of what lay
behind this intransigence: Among the large majority hailing from that
tribe (Yorubas) who are most vocal in inciting the complete
extermination of the Ibos, I often heard remarks that all Nigeria's ills
will be cured once the Ibos have been removed.
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
DAN JACOBS
I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council
of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation. I want to
prevent even one Ibo having one piece to eat before their capitulation.
We shoot at everything that moves. Asked what his forces would do when
they overran the center of Ibo territory, Adekunle replied, then we
shoot at everything. Even things that don't move.
Colonel Adekunle (Commander of the 3rd Marine Commando)
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
DAN JACOBS
Comments:
General Obasanjo (current President of Nigeria) continued with the
above policy after he replaced Adekunle as the commander of the 3rd
Marine Commando.
One
word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government
towards secessionist Biafra: genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is
the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International
Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food
to Biafra ...
Mayer
Washington Post (editorial)
July 2, 1969
In July, a Northern led army declared war on the
Igbo/Easterners in their homeland in Southeastern Nigeria who, out of
utter shock at the pogrom unleashed against the Igbo, had concluded that
Easterners/Igbo were not wanted in the Nigerian Federation and had
declared the Eastern Region the independent Republic of Biafra. By the
time the war ended in January 1970, more than THREE MILLION IGBO people,
including over a million children had died. Many of the dead,
especially children, had died of starvation,
a result of the deliberate policy of the Nigerian government, which had
imposed a total land, sea and air blockade of Biafra, prohibiting even
food and medical deliveries to the war zone!
The
war seems to be reaching its conclusion, with the terror of possible
reprisals and massacres against defenseless people worn out by
deprivations, by hunger and by the loss of all they possess. The news
this morning is very alarming ... One fear torments public opinion. The
fear that the victory of arms may carry with it the killing of
numberless people. There are those who actually fear a kind of
genocide.
Pope Paul VI
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
DAN JACOBS
Until
now efforts to relieve the Biafran people have been thwarted by the
desire of the central government of Nigeria to pursue total and
unconditional victory and by the fear of the Ibo people that surrender
means wholesale atrocities and genocide. But genocide is what is taking
place right now - and starvation is the grim reaper. This is not the
time to stand on ceremony, or to go through channels or to observe the
diplomatic niceties.
The destruction of an entire people is an immoral objective even in the
most moral of wars. It can never be justified; it can never be
condoned.
Mr Richard Nixon
September 9, 1968
During the Presidential campaign
The
loss of life from starvation continues at more than 10,000 persons per
day - over 1,000,000 lives in recent months. Without emergency measures
now, the number will climb to 25,000 per day within a month - and some
2,000,000 deaths by the end of the year. The new year will only bring
greater disaster to a people caught in the passion of fratricidal war.
Senator Kennedy appeals to America's Leaders for greater humanitarian aid to Nigeria - Biafra and efforts to end the civil war.
Sunday, November 17, 1968 However,
Richard Nixon got a very different sense of the situation when he met
Rogers and officials of the African Bureau. Following their briefing, he
telephoned his National Security adviser and said. They're going to
let them starve, aren't they, Henry.
President Richard Nixon
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
DAN JACOBS
Since 1980 thousands of Igbo have continued to be attacked and massacred!
1980 Northern City of KANO!
1982 Northern City of MAIDUGURI!
1984 Northern City of YOLA!
1985 Northern City of GOMBE!
1986 Northern Cities of KADUNA and KAFANCHAN!
1991 Northern Cities of BAUCHI, KATSINA and KANO!
1992 Northern City of ZANGO KATAF!
1993 Northern City of FUNTUA!
1994 Northern City of KANO ....
2000 (Feb.) More than 3000 CHRISTIANS which included more
than 2000 IGBO were slaughtered in cold blood by Northern MOSLEM
FANATICS in the Northern City of KADUNA!
2000 (Apr.) Northern City of DAMBOA
AT PRESENT SECRET KILLINGS OF IGBO CONTINUE IN THE NORTH!
As
we write, a well-designed plan is being carried out throughout Nigeria.
The Igbo people are the largest single ethnic group of Christians in
all of Africa. As usual the current plan targets the Igbo for
subjugation, even destruction. The Igbo nation continues to pay a heavy
prize for their religious beliefs and ethnic background! Before we continue on this subject, we ask that you look at themap below.
As
shown in the map above the following states: SOKOTO, ZAMFARA, KATSINA,
KEBBI, NIGER, JIGAWA, YOBE, BAUCHI, BORNO, KANO, GOMBE are now Islamic
states.
These
states have unilaterally adopted Islam as their state religion and
legal/criminal code, in direct and flagrant violation of the
constitution of Nigeria. They have even gone further to stop and
confiscate the assets of legitimate businesses that belong to law
abiding citizens, mainly Igbo.
To understand the implications of what the Igbo and other
non Moslem nations face in Nigeria, we have included the map of states
in Nigeria showing the unfolding ISLAMIC REPUBLIC. Muslim extremists and
their political and religious leaders now believe that, for Nigeria to
remain one country, it must now become an Islamic nation. The people of
Southern Sudan, for more than 30 years, have been involved in a life and
death struggle with the Arab, Islamist Northern Government in Khartoum,
in a total
rejection of the Islamization of their area. We the Igbo people totally
reject the TALIBANIZATION and ISLAMIZATION of Nigeria. The Igbo people
do not want to live in an Islamic republic. We want to live in a nation
in which the law makes a clear separation between church and state,
where the law respects the rights of all citizens to follow the religion
of their choice, where government can not make policies favoring one
religion over another.
It is important that we stress the following:
Islam is a great religion and we have nothing against
Islam or Moslem, whether such Moslems live in Nigeria or else where. We
recognize the right of Moslems in Northern Nigeria, or else where, to
practice and live by the Islamic principles in their own NATION. They
have now declared that right and we support them.
Since
the Igbo and other non-Moslems have every right to practice whatever
religion they choose and live by whatever principles they choose, it is
important that the free world recognize and accord this equally very
important right.
This threat to Islamize Nigeria, and in fact West Africa can best be illustrated by the two articles below:
#1
Post Express
Category: News
Date of Article: 06/05/2000
Topic: Libya to Build Islamic Varsity in Kano ... Signs N30b contract
Author: Bassey Inyang, Kano
Full Text of Article:
To further promote Islamic education in the country, the
Libyan government, over the weekend in Kano, signed a contract of $300m
(N30 billion) for the construction of an Islamic university in the city.
The $300 million school is to be known as Moumar Gaddafi
Islamic University, Kano, a name borrowed from the Libyan strongman Col.
Moumar Gaddafi. Addressing newsmen in Kano over the development, the
Director of the World Islamic Call Society (WICS), Mr. Mohammed Ali,
said his organization is handling the project on behalf of the Libyan
government, adding that the school project would be financed from the
"Jihad Tax" paid by Libyans.
Ali disclosed that the decision to set up an Islamic
university for the propagation of the faith in Nigeria was informed by
one of the five pillars of the faith which provides for the prosecution
of a Jihad (holy war) to spread the religion, first championed by Holy
Prophet Mohammed."Whatever we are spending is from the pocket of the
Libyan people called "Jihad Tax" it is one of the Islamic pillars that
you have to do it with your money or through any other means" Ali, who
spoke
through an interpreter stated.
According to Ali, the idea behind the university was to
ensure that the Islamic knowledge was preached throughout Nigeria and
other sub Sahara African countries.
He stated that the idea behind the university was also
aimed at checkmating the influence of European imperialists in Nigeria
and Africa at large, adding that at the fullness of time, the project
will facilitate the formation of the United States of Africa (USA).
Ali said the move by Gaddafi to propagate the teaching and
learning of Islam in Nigeria was not new as the leader of the
Jamahariah was only following the footsteps of his forefathers who
helped in bringing Islam to Western Sudan. Ali, who also spoke on the
conflicts in parts of Nigeria as a result of the introduction of the
Sharia said the conflicts wee not borne out of the Sharia but external
forces from outside the country who were bent on splitting Nigeria. He
asked Nigeria to resist foreign
powers with all resources at their disposal so as to keep the country
united.
Ali disclosed that the WICS was enjoying every amount of
support from the Kano State government and the Federal Government as
well, saying "President Olusegun Obasanjo and Gaddafi are very good
friends."
The Gaddafi University which is to be cited along Gwarzo
road in Kano city, will be constructed by Messrs AG. Ferrario Ltd.
The school will cover all landscape of 137 hectres, and
will teach all conventional subjects ranging from medicine, sciences,
agriculture, engineering, arts and a host of others.
The contract papers were signed on behalf of the
construction firm by Mr. Constantino Ferrario while Mohammed Ali signed
on behalf of the Libyan government.
*************
#2
The Guardian Online http://www.ngrguardiannews.com
Tuesday, June 6, 2000
Nigerian Moslem leaders to attend Sharia summit in Niger
NIGERIAN Moslem scholars and leaders will attend a Sharia
summit scheduled for Niger Republic's city of Madawa alongside their
counterparts from Togo and Republic of Benin this week, British
Broadcasting Corporation said yesterday.
The summit is to promote Islamic law in the sub region.
*************
These
two articles above and others that we can provide if needed, will
definitely point the trajectory to an unfolding Islamic conquest if
permitted. Remember that since 1945, Southern Sudan has been in a death
struggle against this impending conquest.
We are told that Nigeria has taken steps towards a
fairer, more democratic government, that the elections held in February
represent a positive sign for Nigeria's future. But does this also
extend to the Igbo Below is a verifiable track record of the so called
fair democratic Obasanjo's regime.
New Heights in Marginalization (Obasanjo regime)
A
conversation with one of the most impressive ministers provided
significant insight into the political aims of the federal Government
.... The Minister discussed the question of the reintegration of the
Ibos in the future state .... The war aim, and solution properly
speaking of the entire problem, he said, was to discriminate against
the Ibos in the future in their own interest. Such discrimination would
include above all the detachment
of those oil-rich territories in the eastern Region which were not
inhabited by Ibos at the start of the colonial period (1900), on the
lines of the twelve-state plan. In addition the Ibos freedom of
movement would be restricted, to prevent their renewed penetration into
other parts of the country ... Leaving any access to the sea to the
Ibos, the minister declared, was quite out of the question.
The Biafra Story
Frederick Forsyth
If
the history of skewed appointments since independence leaves any one in
doubt about the emergence of a pattern, the Obasanjo regime has cleared
such doubts. No regime has betrayed so much disdain for the rights of
the Igbo in its appointments as the Obasanjo regime. We review the
appointment so far. It is important to stress that no Igbo has attained
the position as executive head of state of Nigeria since the end of the
Nigeria-Biafra
war in 1970; also glass ceiling has been created to limit Igbo from
attaining ministerial positions in the following departments: Defense,
Foreign, Petroleum, Internal Affairs, etc
Elderstatesman Maazi Julius Nyerere
NIGERIAN POGROM & JANUARY 15: BEFORE AND AFTER.
PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF GENOCIDE
THE BRUTALITY OF NATIONS
Before we continue on this subject, we ask that you look at the map below:
The Guardian Online http://www.ngrguardiannews.com
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