Crisis Rocks MASSOB AS Four Feared Dead

 

Crisis rocking the Move­ment for the Actuali­sation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) took a new twist yesterday as four people were feared dead.

The crisis may not be unconnected with reports suggesting that dissatisfied members of the movement had removed the leader of the group, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.

According to the Daily Sun, heavy fighting was said to have broken out at the Headquarters of MASSOB Okwe in Onuimo Local Government Area of Imo State Wednesday morning.

Confirming the incident, Ugwuoke Ug­wuoke, the National Secretary of MASSOB alleged that the National President, Uwazuruike was responsible for recruiting thugs, who attacked the Headquarters with sophisticated weapons.

“So many people have been wounded in the early morning attack and those people were not members of MASSOB but were hired by Uwazuruike from Onitsha to come and as­sassinate us because we chal­lenged his style of leadership, but we overpowered them and we have taken over the head­quarters of MASSOB. Uwa­zuruike has turned the struggle as a personal property.”

“Our crime is that we told him to reduce the dues collected from poor members of MASSOB, who toil monthly to pay money into his personal account.

“ As I speak with you, over N20 million is remitted to his account monthly, while those who died in the struggle have been abandoned in the mortu­aries without proper burial.

“What we are saying is that we can no longer be used by Uwazuruike to enrich himself. While we are dying, he is busy buying houses and exotic cars, but we cannot continue like this anymore. We are calling on Igbo leaders to intervene because Uwazuruike has used the blood of innocent Igbo youths, who are killed daily while obeying his orders, to make money.”

Corroborating Ugwuoke, the leader of the Bi­afra Defence Mission, Ndubuisi Ig­wekani called for urgent action to be taken against Uwazuruike so that the crisis won’t degenerate.

“We have called on Igbo leaders, especially Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to call Uwazuruike to order because his kind of Bi­afra was not the one Ojukwu fought for. He has abandoned the struggle and now uses MASSOB as a means to extort Ndigbo, we are out to stop him no matter what he does,” he said.