BSS: Inside Kanu’s ‘Secret Army’

The inauguration of BSS has heightened concerns over the objective of IPOB, as many see this as a call to arms as Kanu and his IPOB continue on the path to carve out a Republic of Biafra out of Nigeria. The basis for the agitations, IPOB insist, is the UN and African Union charter on human and people’s right which states that “Indigenous People have the right to self-determination.” IPOB said its main agenda is to “liberate the People of Biafra forced into unholy unionism with the Nigeria state” and the inauguration of the BSS is seen as a step in pursuing this end. 

In trying to force this move, the group has recently called for referendum for the People of Biafra, and also threatened to boycott Nigeria’s ‘elections in all Biafran Territories,’ starting with the governorship poll in Anambra State in November, until the referendum to determine the fate of the South-East is conducted. 

Ironically, the inauguration took place in one of the last capital of the defunct Republic of Biafra (1967-1970) after the fall of Enugu. Though currently the capital of Abia State, Umuahia, from where the then Biafran leader, Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, fled into exile in Ivory Coast, had bitter taste of the war. For its troubles, the city now houses the National War Museum, a looming reminder of the devastations of war. 

If the museum is meant to be a deterrent for future conflicts, Kanu and IPOB overlooked that with the launch of the BSS which the Abia State Police command had declared an “illegal and unlawful organization.” 

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