Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) , Thursday, urged Biafrans outside to return home to be counted during this forthcoming population census exercise.
Making the urge through its spokesman, Emma Powerful, IPOB said that it would use the coming census exercise organized by the Nigeria government to ascertain the population and the size of amenities needed in Biafra territory.
“The mass return of our people during this forthcoming population census will help us quantify the population of Biafrans in Nigeria. Therefore, we must cease the opportunity Nigeria government is offering to our benefit. They have always told the world that we are a dot with an insignificant population. Now is the time to let the world know the population of Biafrans in Nigeria as Biafra agitation is gathering international attention and speed.
“Biafra is coming, and no one can stop it. IPOB is gradually dismantling all obstacles to our freedom, and this population census will provide another opportunity to collect more evidence to that effect.
“Those who disenfranchised Biafrans during the last fraudulent elections should never be allowed to use us to boost their population again. They have always used Biafran population for a higher allocation yet deny Biafrans opportunity to freely participate in the national issues.
“It’s time we use our tongue to count our teeth. Therefore, IPOB is calling every Biafran resident in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria to travel back to the East and be counted in their home state. Kindly disregard any announcement from any quarter, especially from government agencies asking people not to go back to their state of origin during the census.
“Don’t let them deceive you. It’s the same agenda to keep falsifying and deceiving the world that we are a small dot in the contraption. Should there be any reason why you can’t travel to Biafra land to be counted, make sure you and your family members are not counted outside Biafra Land. We must prove them wrong once and for all,” he pleaded.
He added further that IPOB will engage transport owners to urge them to be part of this project so that those willing to travel to the East to be counted can do so.
“We are calling on all well-meaning Igbo business men and women, entrepreneurs, Senators, Ministers, Commissioners, House of Assembly Members from the Eastern States to contribute in one way or the other to ensure that our people come back home during this population census exercise.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide and Governors of Biafra land must show that they are concerned about the humiliation our people have been subjected to in this country. Our people’s mass return during this population census to be counted among us have many benefits which include; validating our majority population in Nigeria that has been manipulated, used, and abused for the attraction of higher allocation from the Federal government to other states in the past, but can now help us plan for the amenities required in Biafraland like international markets and industrial parks.
“Most importantly, an accurate count of our people will help boost the Biafra Independence movement. We know that our enemies will want to continue in their age-long census manipulation that they started in 1948, but we will put a strategy in place to capture our true population figure during this particular census.
“As usual, they will manipulate the true population figures when it gets to the National Population Council office in Abuja. But before then, our people must have captured our true population data from each village to each local government and all the levels. It’s our responsibility to tell the world our population size that has been manipulated in favour of other states for many years in the past,” the spokesman stated.
