Biafra: Uche Mefor's Broadcasts Met With Disfavour

Broadcasts on Biafra Human Rights Radio by estranged Deputy-Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Uche Mefor, has been met with disapproval, AllNews observed.

This newspaper monitored Mefor's recent broadcasts and discovered that many commenters on his page posit that the UK-based activist does not have the charisma of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu - whom he is rugby-tackling.

See some comments on Mefor's Monday's broadcast below:

Unlike Mefor, Nnamdi Kanu is worshipped by many Biafra supporters

Nnamdi Kanu - though controversial - has been praised for his sharp wit and intellect.

Many believe that is the reason he commands such humongous respects from his devotees who literally worship him.

Kanu has been campaigning for an independent state called Biafra in south-eastern Nigeria.

In 2015, Kanu was charged by the Nigerian government with "criminal conspiracy, intimidation and membership of an illegal organisation" - charges that could amount to treason.

He was released on bail in 2017 after spending more than 19 months without trial on treason charges. 

He then renewed his campaign for independence, before his house in the south-eastern Abia state was raided by the military.

Who is Nnamdi Kanu?

Kanu was a relatively obscure figure until 2009 when he started Radio Biafra, a station that called for an independent state for the Igbo people and is broadcast to Nigeria from London.

Though he grew up in Nigeria's south-east and went to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Kanu moved to the UK before graduating. 

Soon after setting up now-banned IPOB in 2014, he spoke to gatherings of the large Igbo diaspora, calling for Biafran independence.

What is Biafra?

The plan for a Biafra state is not new. 

In 1967 Igbo leaders declared a Biafran state, but after a brutal civil war, which led to the deaths of up to a million people, the secessionist rebellion was defeated.

READ ALSO: Lawyer To Pro-Biafra Group Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, Reacts To Buratai’s 2019 Spiritual Efforts Needed To Defeat Boko Haram Statement

Now-self-exiled Kanu is the latest in a line of ethnic Igbo activists taking up the cause of pushing for an independent state, saying the Igbos have been marginalised by successive Nigerian governments.