In a defiant tone, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) on Tuesday in Onitsha, Anambra State, said no amount of intimidation would deter it from the chosen struggle.
Addressing reporters at a press conference, MASSOB'S Provincial Administrator, Chief Venatus Muoneke maintained that "we should not be deterred in our peaceful and non-violent struggle," saying the struggle was for a genuine cause which affects the whole Igbo race.
Muoneke further regretted that several hundreds of MASSOB members were languishing in various police cells and prisons across the country without trial and called on the Federal Government to immediately release the detainees.
Said he: "We are very mindful of the fact that during this kind of struggle in any society, there is bound to be reactionary elements that will make every possible effort to sabotage the struggle.
Continuing, Muoneke added: "We are also mindful... that more and severe persecutions from the government and its agents await MASSOB members, but we shall not be deterred in our peaceful and non-violent struggle," stressing further that the group did not regard its struggle as a "mission impossible."
Worried by the alleged government's high handedness against MASSOB, Muoneke challenged the government and the police to point any record of violence exhibited by the movement in its agitation.
He stressed that other ethnic militia movements operating in other geo-political zones have at one time or the other wretched havoc on the citizenry.
In his view, government's resolve was bent on silencing the MASSOB's peaceful agitation as well as perpetually marginalise and enslave the Ndigbo in the country.
As a way out, he said that MASSOB leaders are calling for a separate state of Biafra for the Igbo race, urging Igbo leaders of thought and politicians to rally their support for MASSOB.
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