The Catholic Archbishop of the Owerri Archdiocese, Dr. Anthony Obinna has opened up on why he joined the protesting members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB and the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB during a procession to mark the Nigeria-Biafra civil war anniversary earlier this week.
In an interview with Saturday Sun, the Archbishop said “what happened on that day was that we were on our way to Anambra State for the burial of one of the Reverend Sisters when we saw members of IPOB and MASSOB and they made way for us to move on. But on our way back near Nkpor, the protesting youths barred us from passing. But after several minutes when the protesting youths would not allow us continue our journey to Owerri, as a spiritual leader I had to come out of the vehicle and appealed to them that what they were doing was unnecessary as there are better ways to channel their grievances rather than destroying their own homes.”
He further disclosed that “I counseled the protesters that they cannot achieve Biafra through violence or by killing anybody but through dialogue and that a wise man does not bring destruction to his homestead. I reminded them that we have already witnessed the unnecessary deaths of some youths including men and women in the cause of the agitation for Biafra.”
While noting that violence will never solve any problem, the priest stated that “the death of any Nigerian is not good, whether the person is Hausa- Fulani , Yoruba, Igbo or Tiv and should not be tolerated in whatever guise, and so it is incumbent on the leaders of the country to fashion out an amicable solution that will ensure peace and harmony because we have no other country but Nigeria.
Urging President Buhari to work hard and unite the country, Obinna said “the political leaders of the country should have the will power to address the concerns of citizens with sincerity and honesty because nobody wants the break up of the country. Every nation has its own peculiar problem but how the problems are addressed is what makes the difference.”
