Top 5 facts about the new Biafra group TRIPOB

At a meeting convened on Monday, August
22, a group of people formerly under the
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), decided
to break away to form a new group that will
better serve their purposes. They called this
new group The Rebranded Indigenous People
of Biafra (TRIPOB).
Dr Dozie Ikedife of the Bilie human rights
initiative is thought to be the brain behind
the new Biafran group
The news of the split has led to accusations
and counter-accusations within the ranks of
the IPOB. The IPOB, head of media and
publicity, Emma Powerful, released a
statement that the organisation under the
leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had not
changed and the loyalty of members was
not in doubt.
Here are five facts you need to know about
this new group, the TRIPOB:
1. The spokesperson of the new group is
Chima Philip Effiong Osuji
Chima Philip Effiong Osuji who is the
spokesman of the new group, TRIPOB, said
on Monday: “It was resolved that due to the
rigid and fatalistic position of the Nnamdi
Kanu- led IPOB, several of us with like minds
shall breakaway. ”
Chima Philip Effiong Osuji is very likely
related to or was named after Philip Effiong
who was the first Vice President and the
second President of the now
defunct Republic of Biafra during
the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970.
Effiong was Chief of General Staff of Biafra
under Head of State, Odumegwu
Ojukwu during the Nigeria-Biafra war and he
assumed leadership on 8 January 1970 and
on 12 January, 1970 he announced
surrender. He died in November 2003.
2. The new group believes Biafra as a nation
will not be a reality
Part of the statement made by the new
group was: “TRIPOB now sees the Biafra
question from a different perspective.
Biafra will now become to us a powerful
metaphor for change, development and
greatness of the Igbos inside a united Nigeria,
where the South East axis will be a utopia
from the sheer determination borne out of the
Biafra metaphor.”
They do not believe in having a separate
nation from Nigeria, and they have decided
to show this by burning the Biafran flag on
October, 1, 2016, at the Eagle Square Abuja,
recite the national anthem and pledge to
Nigeria, while the spirit and intent of Biafra
will be pursued inside a unified Nigerian
nation.

3. They will unveil a new Biafra flag on
October 1, 2016
The statement released also says: “The
event will also include recitation of the pledge
to Nigeria, our country, singing of the national
anthem, followed by a solemn burning of the
Biafra flag and unveiling a new Biafra flag
representing pride, change, potential and spirit
of the Igbo race which can thrive anywhere in
the world.”
The new Biafran flag according to the new
group will show that the spirit of Biafra is
more important than secession and a
physical nation.
4. Dr Dozie Ikedife is suspected to be
behind TRIPOB
While calling to question the legitimacy of
the new group, the Head of Media and
Publicity of IPOB, Emma Powerful mentioned
Dr Dozie Ikedife as one of those behind the
division.
He said Ikedife had seen that “a lot of
progress has been made in the Biafra
struggle” and therefore wants to hijack the
leadership of IPOB, adding that Ikedife and
others like him have failed in their
mischievous mission.
Dozie Ikedife is the former President-General
of Ohaneze Ndigbo and popularly known as
the Ikenga of Nnewi. In May 2015, he led
notable Igbo leaders, including retired army
generals, to Buhari to pledge the support of
Igbo people to him. A move that earned him
many enemies among the Igbo people.

5. The reasons behind the split
The new group, TRIPOB, spokesman gave
several reasons behind the split. The
reasons they gave, were included in this
statement:
“We have accepted the fact that the Biafra
Republic is not a reality but an anachronism,
and doubt that the South -South region will
become a part of a Biafra Republic, except by
force; after a declaration of another civil war.”
That the lessons and history of the civil war
will only reinforce the belief in ourselves to
reach the zenith in this great country, Nigeria,
where opportunities abound for every one
regardless of tribe or religion, and even where
such narrow sentiments exist, we will not see
ourselves as victims.”
As the IPOB has declared the group
illegitimate, October 1 is the set date to see
if the new group, TRIPOB will make good on
its decisions.