Posted by By NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha on
There were jubilations in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State yesterday, by some Igbo youths, presumed to be members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), when information filtered in that the Federal High Court in Abuja has listed some measures as a pre-condition for securing court bail for the detained MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.
There were jubilations in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State yesterday, by some Igbo youths, presumed to be members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), when information filtered in that the Federal High Court in Abuja has listed some measures as a pre-condition for securing court bail for the detained MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.
The jubilation which began in form of solidarity songs and peaceful demonstrations started simultaneously in Old Market Road, Okpoko, Upper Iweka, Nkpor and other parts of the city in the afternoon when the news of Uwazuruike's imminent release filtered into the city.
One of Uwazuruike's counsel, who pleaded for anonymity had confirmed to newsmen in a telephone chat that the court had among others, demanded that Uwazuruike or his allies should produce evidence of his mother's death, including her photograph and death certificate from the hospital where she died, the photograph of the hospital and two prominent traditional rulers to sign his bail bond, one from the South-East geo-political zone and the other from Uwazuruike's home town.
The counsel also confirmed that the court wants these conditions met within 13 days from yesterday, October 3, which is precisely on October 16 being the next adjournment date when it is expected that the court would grant him bail, based on the stipulated conditions.
However, in a press statement issued yesterday during the jubilation, Uwazuruike's Personal Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mazi Chris Mocha, noted that MASSOB members were excited by the development as it symbolized the beauty of their non-violence principle as the only step towards the achievement of self-determination for Biafra.
In the statement entitled: Echoes of jubilation as Federal Government moves to grant Uwazuruike bail, MASSOB insisted that notwithstanding the gesture, they would never surrender till their mission for full independence of Biafra is achieved without firing a gunshot.
It recalled that Uwazuruike, who is currently being detained at Keffi Prisons in Nasarawa State, has spent two years in solitary confinement and has had his trials adjourned 30 times between November 8, 2005 and October 3, this year.
MASSOB also recalled that Uwazuruike was arrested on Tuesday, October 25, 2005 by heavily armed security operatives from the SSS, who dressed in NYSC uniforms.