Nnamdi Kanu says Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom are the same people

Wed, May 20, 2020

By publisher

2 MIN READ

NNAMDI Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has faulted the creation of the Niger Delta or south-south region by the federal government. He alleged that the government created the region to further divide the people of Biafra.

Kanu, in a statement released by Emma Powerful, media and publicity secretary, IPOB, said “there is no difference from Abia, Cross River and Akwa Ibom people”. According to him, all these people share the same culture and tradition. “I want to educate the enemies of Biafra that there is nothing like Niger-Delta or South-South. I maintain that only a roundly unintelligent one at that can ever call him or herself a Niger-Deltan or South-South person. The British and Fulani thought they could divide us, not knowing that what binds all the nations of Biafra is stronger than the hate they planted amongst us.

“The building block of a NATION is commonality of culture as universally defined and accepted and they don’t come lesser than the revered EKPE & OKONKO fraternities, which bind Bende province in Abia, Efik and Ibiobio together as one family. You will see that Abiriba ranks alongside other clans in Biafra all the way to Bakassi peninsular as having the same EKPE culture.

“Abiriba is the umbilical cord that ties Igbos to their brethren in Ejeagham, Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Bakassi and all the way to parts of Ambazonia. Abiriba people of Bende in Abia State are  by far the richest clan in Africa per capita and are the only Igbo group that use ‘ung or ong’ similar to that in Effi’ong or Ob’ong in their lexicon.

“Without prejudice to my fellow Biafrans in Bini that I love dearly, I want to ask those that carved out South-South/Niger Delta, what are the tangible cultural ties or affinity between the people of Cross River and Bini that led to put them together in a geopolitical unit? Because Abia State has EKPE and OKONKO cults, which are bonded to cultures in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states. My question therefore is on what basis did the Fulani determine who to include in their South-South region when clearly the closest relatives to Cross River and Akwa Ibom is Abia,?” he said.

– May 20, 2020 @ 14:15 GMT |