The Raid On Biafran Headquarters Security Operatives Storm MASSOB.

(From The News (Nigeria) - AAGM)

Byline: Uba Aham

The raid on the headquarters of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, in Okwe, Onuimo council area of Imo State on 13 October was long expected.

For more than four years, the organisation had continued its agitation to exhume the carcass of Biafra from the grave, where it was consigned over three decades ago. Initially, the agitation was ignored. But on 26 August this year, the Federal Government could no longer ignore it after MASSOB succeeded in shutting down Eastern Nigeria.

That day, the group's directive to Ndigbo to sit at home was fully complied with to the consternation of government and its security agencies.

The recent raid, which was carried out by operatives from the Imo State Security Services, SSS, with police cover, was meant to forestall similar 'subversive activities' by the group. Both state security men and policemen, numbering about 100, had reportedly stormed the organization's headquarters located in the home country of its leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike. Although Uwazurike himself escaped, 11 of his members in Biafran Army uniforms, were allegedly whisked away by the operatives.

Uwazurike who spoke to TheNEWS from hiding alleged that the plot was aimed at eliminating him with a view to scuttling the realization of the Biafran nation. According to the MASSOB chief, the operatives, on gaining entrance, fired indiscriminately and vandalized the buildings. He said the raid lasted for over two hours and that the operatives came in nine trucks and two vans. His house, he alleged, was ransacked and communication gadgets were carted away. The security operatives also filmed their activities in the MASSOB headquarters. The security operatives also ransacked Uwazurike's bedroom, his jeep and his mother's building.