Akwa Ibom group pulls out of Biafra, petitions UN for own republic

Despite declaration of a united Nigeria by elected leaders of the zones in the south of Nigeria, a group out of a state in the south-south has gone ahead to the UN to file for secession.

The Akwa Ibom Leader Coalition made it known in a letter it wants Ibom Republic.

The coalition joins the Biafran and the Oodua agitators who also seek their independent nations, a move that will alter the on-going agitation by IPOB which sees Akwa Ibom as part of the intended Biafra republic.

According to Offiong Offiong, a member of the coalition, Nigeria has not treated the state fairly.

The Akwa Ibom group alleged that the Nigerian state had not treated its indigenes fairly and it therefore wanted its own republic.

“I am here today to present the communiqué that was issued after our meeting on June 5, 2021. Unfortunately, because of the back and forth of the lockdown and reopening of the UN secretariat, where the commission is based, we only ended up leaving our documents with the officers, he said in a video June 18.

“But we are happy today that we were able to come. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 restrictions had not allowed us to present the documents to all the offices.

“We are asking for Ibom Republic. The Ibom Republic will be an attempt for us to demonstrate our emancipation as an indigenous group from the Nigerian state. We want a referendum and we want a decision made. We want our people to go on their own based on the way they have been treated by the Nigerian state.

“It is an exciting day for the Ibom Republic. Those documents have been submitted and we will continue to follow up.”

Many of the secessionist groups have submitted their letter to the world body which has no influence on the Nigerian Constitution that spells out how the union can be dissolved.