We find it curious that the Federal Government of Nigeria that has
pledged total support for a two state solution to the Israel –
Palestinian conflict, as well as support for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic
Republic (SADR), is not addressing the demand of the Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB) for a state of their own. To date, the leader of IPOB,
Mr. Nnamdi Kanu is still under detention while there are frequent
killings of the protesting members of the Movement. The latest in the
series of attacks on the IPOB occurred on 9th February, 2016 when over
twenty two members of the Movement were killed by soldiers during a
prayer meeting in Aba.
It is difficult to rationalize why a government that is clamping down on agitations for self determination by an ethnic group within Nigeria, could be supporting such agitations in foreign countries. We recommend to the Government that as it is considering the case of SADR and the Palestinians, it should in like manner open dialogue with IPOB. The solution to the Biafra agitation is dialogue. While we discountenance any secessionist move, the solution to the Biafran agitation is dialogue.