IPOB stated that the warning is necessary due to the historical mistreatment of African soldiers who fought on behalf of Britain during World War I.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has issued a warning to youths in the South-East region, urging them not to participate in the British Army recruitment.
The group in a statement on Saturday by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, said that it was a deceptive plot to exploit and discard them.
IPOB stated that the warning is necessary due to the historical mistreatment of African soldiers who fought on behalf of Britain during World War I.
The Biafran group noted that despite their sacrifices, many African soldiers were never recognised, and those who survived were sent back to Africa without compensation, unlike their British counterparts who received adequate recognition and compensation.
"IPOB is advising Biafran youths to avoid being recruited to fight for a country that does not value their lives.
“The family of IPOB led by its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, warns Biafran youths to shun the deceptive move by the British government to recruit them among the Commonwealth citizens to join their Army to fight their future wars.
“IPOB is calling on Biafran youths to avoid being used as sacrificial lambs by the British government, which has no respect for you or your lives. The British government has commenced the recruitment of Africans to fight their wars as they did decades ago. During WW1, the British and the European countries used Africans to fight their wars. By November 1918, the ‘British Army in East Africa was mainly composed of African soldiers.
“One of the units was the West African Frontier Force, consisting of soldiers drawn from Nigeria, especially Igbos and South Easterners, others from Southern Nigeria, the Gold Coast (Ghana), and Sierra Leone. Another unit was called the King’s African Rifles, recruited from Kenya, Uganda, and Nyasaland (Malawi). Over 180,000 Africans served in the British Carrier Corps.
“Thousands of these African soldiers who died in defence of Britain were never recognised. At the same time, those of them who survived the war were sent back to Africa without compensation, whereas their British and other counterparts were adequately compensated and recognised after the war," the statement partly read.
According to the statement, during the 1939 – 1945 WWII, thousands of Africans were also recruited and sacrificed for Britain to become a superpower. "The ongoing plan to recruit Africans again, especially Biafrans, to be sacrificed for the colonial imperialist will not work," the separatist group said.
“The people of Biafra will never be sacrificed for those who don’t recognise us as human beings. We can confidently understand that our fathers told us that they fought to save the United Kingdom during the Second World War but were abandoned by the British Government.
“IPOB is warning Biafrans to shun the ongoing British military recruitment. They don’t mind that they said it’s commonwealth countries. They are targeting the Biafrans, and we must be very careful. If Britain can have a very strict visa policy for African immigrants, why then do they have a very relaxed and easy application to join the British Army?
“If Africans do not find it easy to migrate to Britain with a work visa, there are no bases to give Africans a flexible visa to join the British Army. Biafrans should not allow themselves to be slaughtered for a nation that doesn’t care about their freedom or existence. The British Government contributed and spearheaded the Biafran genocide and the continuous subjugation of Biafrans in Nigeria.”
Insisting that Biafrans would not be allowed to be exploited again by Britain's, IPOB said "IPOB will not allow Biafrans to be used again by Britain through the commonwealth channels to recruit soldiers to war against Russia or any other country.
"We, therefore, call on the Biafran parents to advise their children against joining the British military recruitment. Also, the Biafran youths should be wise not to join their oppressor’s Army for citizenship or monetary rewards. Do not be a sacrificial lamb for your oppressors.”
The Biafra group appealed to youths to support their cause of restoring Biafra than sacrificing their lives for imperialist globalist warmongers.
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