Biafra: Soldiers arrest Uwazuruike, 220 MASSOB members

No fewer than 220 members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), includ­ing leader of the group, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, were yesterday arrested by the soldiers at a check-point at Okigwe, Imo State, for allegedly put­ting on Biafran uniform.

They were arrested on their way to Monobil Hotel Okigwe, where members of Okigwe Zonal Youth Conference had organized an honour award for Uwa­zuruike for his efforts to emancipate the Igbo.
However, while the MASSOB leader was later released when one Captain Ola, leader of the soldiers, arrived at the scene of the incident, his 220 members who were there to felici­tate with him at the award ceremony were taken to an unknown destination.
When contacted on phone, Uwazuruike con­firmed the incident, saying he did not know where his men were taken to at the moment. He said he would go to the Okigwe office of the army to look for them and seek their release after the award ceremony.
He regretted that the army and police had con­tinued to harass MASSOB members even when they have not constituted any se­curity breach.
Uwazuruike further reit­erated the determination of the group to emancipate the Igbo and enthrone a Sover­eign State of Biafra.