MASSOB, IPOB dare herdsmen, deploy 10,000 men
Miffed by the continued menace of armed Fulani herdsmen in parts of the country, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and the Indigenous People of Biafra have warned herdsmen to steer clear from the South-East and South-South states.
MASSOB and IPOB cautioned that they would be forced to resist the herdsmen should they (herdsmen) fail to adhere to their warning.
In separate statements in reaction to the recent Benue killings on Thursday, both MASSOB and IPOB declared their resolve to ensure the protection of lives and properties of the people of the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones of the country.
Speaking with newsmen in Owerri, MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, noted that the movement would go to any length in protecting the lives and properties of the people since the federal and state governments had shown their inability to protect the citizens of earlier herdsmen attacks.
Uwazuruike, who spoke through one of his deputies, Mr. Emmanuel Omenka, said the group had finalised arrangements to deploy over 10,000 Biafran security operatives to secure the South- East against the ceaseless attacks by the Fulani herdsmen.
He said, “MASSOB is ready and would not fold its hands to see the Fulani herdsmen invade, attack and destroy lives and properties of the people in the South-East and other areas of Biafra.”
He, however, warned the Fulani herdsmen not to launch any attack, pointing out that the movement would not allow what happened in Enugu State in 2017 and what is happening in Benue State to repeat itself in the South- East and South-South.
In its own reaction, IPOB, through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, warned the Fulani herdsmen to stay away the South-East and avoid venturing into attacking industrious people of the region.
“Any attack on the South- East or Biafraland would be met with retaliations from IPOB. I therefore state that the reprisal would be better imagined than expressed,” he said.
