On the arrest of MASSOB and IPOB members by Ebuka Nwankwo

The police in Ebonyi State has arrested members of IPOB and MASSOB for sensitizing the public to sit at home on the 30th of May in order to honor the fallen heroes of the 1967 to 1970 civil war and mark the 50th anniversary of the war. The police says these groups are illegal and did not get the permission of the police to embark on such sensitization.


The police is right in arguing that no group has the right to force its wish on others and that those not interested in the sit-at-home order had the right to go about their normal duties without fear. It has no right to stop nonviolent campaigns – the kind IPOB says it has embarked on.

The thinking in some quarters is that these arrests and possible prosecution would deter other agitators and, maybe, dampen the Biafra agitations. But this is unlikely to happen.

Many have advised IPOB and MASSOB that the only way can continue getting the support of Igbo elites is to make their protests civil. They seem to have taken that advice and are metamorphosing into nonviolent revolutionists. After all, the groups say that they decided to ask their supporters and Igbos around the country to sit at home because they might be attacked if they embarked on peaceful processions on the 30th of May.
Recent history has shown that nonviolent revolutions, the kind these agitators claim to be embarking on, have been more effective than traditional violent revolutions.

There are reasons for this effectiveness. One, nonviolent revolutions attract local and international legitimacy, especially when the agitators put forward coherent arguments. This puts enormous pressure on the target. Two, it always gets to the point where open assault on nonviolent protesting citizens backfires and leaders fear being accused of ‘war crimes’.

Little wonder John F. Kennedy once said that, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable’’.

By adopting well-known strategies of nonviolent revolutions, such as awakening public consciousness on the plight of the Igbos in Nigeria with education and propaganda and embarking on protests, the Biafra agitators have successfully acquired the critical mass that makes revolutions successful.

The power of these nonviolent revolutionists, and of course the Biafra movement, cannot be wished away. For example, in 1986, over a million Filipino citizens gathered in Manila with one goal: to oust President Fernand Marcos, who refused to resign and ruled with brute force. None of the protestors brought any weapons, they were only armed with songs and rosaries. Marcos and his men found they couldn’t harm these protestors and subsequently returned to the barracks.

Mahatma Gandhi’s and Martin Luther’s nonviolent revolutions are important examples, as well. Nonviolent civil disobedience spearheaded by these leaders achieved more than guns could have achieved.

Certainly, the clause in Nnamdi Kanu’s bail conditions asking him not to address any public gathering is a strategy for preventing possible revolution. Also, the recent order prohibiting the gathering of two or more IPOB members, who might be propagating their messages, is another strategy to prevent unforeseen revolutions.

But how far can these orders and arrest go? There is already a critical mass of people who believe that the current government has shown that the Igbos are not wanted in Nigeria. Many people in the south east, who do not believe in violence and are law abiding, agree strongly with many of the ideologies of these groups.
Politicians have cashed in on this. These agitations now require a political solution.

Former President Obasanjo’s recent intervention on how to treat these agitating youths should be taken very seriously. The former president insisted that dialogue remains the best option. The police should take note of this.