Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the
Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB),
says he handed over Radio Biafra to Nnamdi Kanu,
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) but
Kanu disappointed him.

Uwazuruike said this on Monday in Kaduna during a
meeting with Hamza Al-Mustapha, former chief
security officer to the late Sani Abacha, former head of
state.

The meeting was aimed at brokering peace over the
quit notice issued to the Igbo in the north by a
coalition of northern youth groups.

Uwazuruike said he founded MASSOB in 1999 as a
peaceful platform through which “issues of perceived
marginalisation of the Igbo in Nigeria could be
discussed and tackled”.

He said he was disappointed that the radio station
“has become something else” other than what it was
created for.

“I handed over Radio Biafra which I created to Nnamdi
Kanu in London as the managing director and was
hoping it would serve the purpose for which it was
created, but I was disappointed that politicians
hijacked it and it became something else,” he said.

He further said that the ethnic crisis currently faced in
the country was being “manipulated and caused by
politicians.”

He said the country “must” continue to exist as one
nation although “issues of marginalisation can be
disscussed”.

He said though it is right for any part of the country to
seek for sself-determination it is however wrong to
pursue same through violent means.

“I want to assure northerners that your people in the
south-east are safe and nobody will harass them and
I’m happy that my friend Al-Mustapha has also given
same assurance of the safety of our people in the
north.”

Al-Mustapha urged the Igbo to wear their thinking
caps and shun acts that are detrimental to the unity of
the country.

He said it would not be surprising if some countries
that that were envious of Nigeria’s progress may be
the sponsors of the tension in the country.

He condemned the quit notice issues to the Igbo but
said the action of the aggrieved youth “may be borne
out of frustration as a result of the upleasant
comments coming from Kanu”.

“We are appealing that our younger ones whom have
been declared wanted should be set free, and the order
of arrest should be rescinted because it is not the
solution,” he added.

This is not the first time that Uwazuruike would attack
Kanu openly.

In January, he described the IPOB leader as a
“fraudster” who has no genuine interest in the Biafran
struggle.

He said this in Owerri, Imo state capital, while
responding to the allegation that the federal
government had contracted him to testify against
Kanu in secret.

“When I started nobody gave me a chance, I went
through the hurdles alone. So Nnamdi Kanu is not the
first Igbo to be tried for treason, I also stood before the
same judge handling his case for the same charge of
treason. He should face his trial like a freedom fighter
and if need be die for the course,” he said.

“Kanu was a nobody whom I picked up in London
while he was practising internet fraud as his only
means of livelihood.

“I made Kanu the director of Radio Biafra London, but
Kanu later claimed that he established the station.

“Kanu was homeless when I met him in London. I gave
him the first money to rent an apartment after he was
thrown out by the Ghanaian woman he was living with.

“When I met him (Kanu) in London he had no job and
no certificate; he was into internet crime. So who is
Nnamdi Kanu? It is you the journalists that are flaming
him up as somebody; if not, he is a nobody.

“The struggle continues to be alive as long as I agree.
Even if Nnamdi Kanu dies today, the struggle
continues. I cannot travel to Abuja to give evidence
against Kanu masked. If I want to do that, I will testify
against him in an open court but I can’t do that, what
do I stand to gain?”

TheCable