By Nwabueze Okonkwo
ONITSHA — The leadership of the Biafra Independence Movement (BIM) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has strongly condemned the police invitation extended to its leader, Barr. (Chief) Ralph Uwazuruike, warning that “touching him is like touching a tiger on the tail, whether awake or asleep.”
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the group’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity and Director of Information, Mazi Chris Mocha, BIM-MASSOB denounced the invitation served on Uwazuruike to report at the Tiger Base in Owerri on Monday, October 20, over alleged offences bordering on criminal invasion, forgery, and wilful damage.
The group described the police action as “a violation of democratic principles and fundamental human rights,” insisting that Uwazuruike had committed no offence by volunteering to participate in a nationwide peaceful protest calling for the release of detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
According to the statement, the invitation was “a ploy to arrest and possibly detain Uwazuruike for no just cause.”
BIM-MASSOB described Uwazuruike, who holds the traditional title of Ijele Ndigbo (the biggest masquerade in Igboland), as a peace-loving leader who has for 26 years championed the struggle for Biafran self-determination through non-violent means.
The group noted:
“Chief Uwazuruike has consistently demonstrated his commitment to peaceful dialogue and respect for the rule of law. There is no justification whatsoever for inviting him to the Tiger Base in Owerri for questioning.”
It would be recalled that over the weekend, Uwazuruike filed a fundamental human rights enforcement suit at the Owerri High Court against the Imo State Police Command and seven others.
In the suit, he is asking the court to order the police to pay ₦100 million as damages for infringing on his rights, and to restrain the respondents from arresting or detaining him over his planned participation in the nationwide peaceful protest for Nnamdi Kanu’s release, scheduled for October 20.
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