A former Secretary-General of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Chief Frank Kokori, on Sunday described those agitating for a Biafra Republic as miscreants and dropouts, lacking any iota of what they were demanding.
Kokori, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, also urged genuine Igbo leaders to speak out against the protest, which he noted, was a stage the country had passed.
He said, “It is very unfortunate what the Biafran agitators are doing. They are not really serious about it. They do not know the enormity of what they are demanding. Those goading and pushing them into the protests are doing so for selfish reasons. They are playing on the intelligence of the agitators, who are mostly miscreants and dropouts. There are no serious persons among them. At this stage, the real Igbo leaders should tell them that we have passed that stage in Nigeria.”
The ex-NUPENG scribe added that it was important for the Igbo leaders to speak out in order to end the manipulation of the agitators by those he described as selfish individuals.
Kokori noted that the Boko Haram menace aggravated by the refusal of the northern leaders to speak out when it initially started.
He added, “It is not that the pro-Biafra protests are anyhow similar to that of the bestial attacks of Boko Haram. But the Igbo leaders must speak out in time to check the situation. I do not think any serious Igbo will support their demands. The agitators do not even believe what they are clamouring for. The protests are even only within the South-East. Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and other states are not fully involved.”
A faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and the Indigenous People of Biafra have continued to agitate for Biafra Republic through a storm of protest.
The Nigeria Police have also intensified actions to curtail the protests by arresting some of the agitators.
Last week, the protesters stormed Imo State to demand the unconditional release of the detained Radio Biafra Director, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu.
