{"id":333774,"date":"2017-07-04T06:31:40","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T06:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=333774"},"modified":"2017-07-04T06:31:40","modified_gmt":"2017-07-04T06:31:40","slug":"nigerias-igbo-leaders-reject-call-for-biafra-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=333774","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria’s Igbo leaders reject call for Biafra state"},"content":{"rendered":"

Powerful Igbo leaders in Nigeria have rejected calls for the breakaway state of Biafra to be created for their ethnic group in the south-east.<\/p>\n

Their intervention is seen as an attempt to defuse escalating tensions between rival communities in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

However, a pro-secessionist group says it will press ahead with its campaign.<\/p>\n

Security forces have killed at least 150 people since August 2015 to quell pro-independence protests, Amnesty International says.<\/p>\n

The campaign has also fuelled tension in northern Nigeria, where some youth groups have retaliated by threatening to expels Igbos who live there.<\/p>\n

So, the statement by Igbo leaders pledging loyalty to Nigeria could help ease tension in the north, says the BBC’s Naziru Mikailu in the capital, Abuja.<\/p>\n

Following a specially convened meeting in the Igbo heartland of Enugu city to discuss the crisis, state governors, lawmakers, traditional and religious leaders issued a statement on Sunday to give their “full support” to a “united Nigeria”.<\/p>\n

However, the statement called for the vast and oil-rich West African state to be “restructured” to achieve a “a just and equitable society”.<\/p>\n

Many people in the south-east accuse successive governments of failing to develop their areas.<\/p>\n

\"States<\/span>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pro-independence Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob) said the meeting failed to reflect the views of the Igbo people.<\/p>\n

“We want Biafra and nothing but Biafra. Nigeria must disintegrate. Her faulty foundation has broken beyond repair,” Massob said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Massob is one of the main groups leading the independence campaign.<\/p>\n

On 30 May, many people in cities and towns across the south-east stayed at home to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the breakaway state of Biafra.<\/p>\n

The 1967 declaration led to a brutal civil war, which claimed the lives of up to a million people, before the secessionist rebellion was defeated by government forces.<\/p>\n

Biafra at a glance:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • First republic of Biafra was declared by Nigerian military officer Odumegwu-Ojukwu in 1967<\/li>\n
  • He led his mainly ethnic Igbo forces into a deadly three-year civil war that ended in 1970<\/li>\n
  • More than one million people lost their lives, mostly because of hunger<\/li>\n
  • Decades after Biafra uprising was quelled by the military, secessionist groups have attracted the support of many young people<\/li>\n
  • They feel Nigeria’s central government is not investing in the region<\/li>\n
  • The government says their complaints are not particular to the south-east<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    –<\/p>\n

    Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Powerful Igbo leaders in Nigeria have rejected calls for the breakaway state of Biafra to be created for their ethnic group in the south-east. Their intervention is seen as an attempt to defuse escalating tensions between rival communities in Nigeria. However, a pro-secessionist group says it will press ahead with its campaign. Security forces have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[8887,3],"class_list":["post-333774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","tag-biafra","tag-ghana-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=333774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=333774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=333774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=333774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}