- Calls on South-east leaders to stop marauding herdsmen
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB has said an Igbo man could not be the president of Nigeria again, adding that South-east leaders must prevent marauding herdsmen from overrunning their land.
The National Director of Information of MASSOB, Sunday Okerefor, stated this in an interview with Punch on Saturday in which he also accused the federal government of granting the N100 billion request of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association members, MACBAN.
Speaking on the 2023 presidency, Okerefor said an Igbo man could not be president again and that they are also not interested in the office.
He said, “We are not interested in the Presidency; an Igbo man cannot be President again. If the currency is naira, then they will never allow Igbo to rule again. NAIRA as an acronym means Never Allow Igbo Rule Again. These Igbo politicians are aware of it; they say that the Igbo were defeated in the war; they would say that we should go home and take care of our children and forget about an Igbo president.”
MASSOB said as a matter of urgency all monarchs, senators, and governors in the region must chase out the Fulani.
Okerefor said the members of the cattle breeders association had the intention of using the money to acquire land in the South-East.
He said, “So we are telling the Ezes to go and chase out these Fulani people from our land before the end of this month because we are aware that the Federal Government has given N100 billion to MACBAN. The Miyetti Allah (MACBAN) wants to use this money to buy our land, not that the government wants to give them land; they want to use that money and come to our communities and buy land to breed their cows and force us into slavery.
“Afterwards, they will bring their cows, ammunition and their brothers there, they will buy large parcels of land and after they buy, we will not be able to stop them again. That is why we are warning the Ezes, that anybody that will welcome the Miyetti Allah, that person will be dealt with. We have told our groups around the communities to monitor the villages to check when the Miyetti Allah will come to buy land. We don’t have any land to sell to them; they should go to the North and buy land there.
“The Miyetti Allah has been given N100 billion whereas, we have Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ijaw youths and Arewa youths, why didn’t the government give them N100 billion each as they gave to the Miyetti Allah? The federal government should, first of all, ask the Miyetti Allah to drop their weapons because I saw Fulani men in our bush with AK-47 rifles; seven of them were holding these guns. They passed through my community in the bush.”