Uwazuruike Insists On MASSOB As Police Invites Him

The leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, monday reported at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) section of the Imo State Police Command for interrogation. This was less than 24 hours after security operatives raided his private residence in Owerri.

The leader, who voluntarily turned himself in on the invitation of the police, was immediately whisked away to the Zone 9 headquarters in Umuahia shortly after a closed-door meeting with the state Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu.

A senior police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the MASSOB leader was invited by the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, for a friendly chat, adding that he was not detained.

According to him, “MASSOB is an outlawed group and the same thing goes with their activities so his invitation was not unconnected to that. Yes he reported at the state command headquarters today from where he was moved to see the AIG in charge of Zone 9.”

But Uwazuruike who briefed journalists at his residence after he was released, said: “There is no going back on the struggle for Biafra.”

He added: “I was not at home on Saturday when I got a call that policemen invaded my home, in the morning I got a letter from the Imo State Commissioner of Police and so I reported in the morning and he told me that he does not want MASSOB in the state but he cannot stop him. There is no going back on Biafra and I was taken to Umuahia to see the AIG.

“At Umuahia, the AIG vouched for me that he has known me and my non-violent stance on the struggle for Biafra. Any one that does not want MASSOB should leave Igbo land.”