Chronicle EditorABUJA. — President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday railed against separatists seeking Nigeria’s “dismemberment” as it marked its 1960 independence from Britain and said corruption remained the African oil giant’s “number one enemy”. President Buhari, who fought in the 1967-70 Biafran war, said those seeking to carve up the country had no idea of the havoc they could potentially wreak.
“As a young army officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about two million lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering.
“Those who are agitating for a rerun were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through,” he said. “I am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.”
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement wants an independent state for the Igbo people who dominate the southeast region. Tension has been building since October 2015 when the group’s leader Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and held in custody until he was released on bail in April this year.
His trial on charges of treasonable felony is expected to resume this month. — AFP/HR/Xinhua
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