Asari Dokubo, an ex-militant in the Niger Delta region has declared himself the leader of the new "Biafra de facto customary government" citing "injustice and marginalisation" of the Igbo people.

In a statement issued on Sunday by Uche Mefor- the Head of Information and Communication of the customary government,  Dokubo claimed that he is aspiring for a better life for his people." 

The ex-militant leader named George Onyibe as Secretary of the customary government and Emeka Esiri as the officer in charge of its legal matters said the paramount agenda would be securing the lives and properties of the Igbo people and investing in education: Below are excerpts from the statement: 

“We are going to invest everything we have in science and technology to increase the scientific and technological discoveries, fabrications and making life easier for our people through science and technology”.

“We are going to pursue rigorously the education of our people, we are going to make sure that we feed ourselves.

“You are all aware of the recent plot where they decided to stop food from the north. They failed woefully, they will continue to fail.

 The government of Biafra States will look to make sure that we only eat what we can produce.

“Nobody can stop us. Nobody can blockade us as they did in the first war. We’re not going to fight any war with anybody, we’re walking to freedom.

“We will not shoot any gun with them, they will prepare their weapon but they will have nobody to kill with their weapon”.

“We as people have resolved that as Biafra, it’s time for us to take our destiny in our hands and bring freedom to ourselves and our children and the generation of Biafrans yet unborn.

“I hesitate a little but I thank God that it’s time for us to do our duty and our service to motherland, I have accepted this role. I have dedicated my life a hundred per cent to play this role.

“My first act today in taking this position is to name those who would be on the driver’s seat to navigate through this period of tempest, this period of uncertainty with me.

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“I want to call on our brother, George Onyibe to come on board to join as the secretary of the de facto customary government of the State of Biafra. He will take care of the administrative, day to day administration of the Biafra State.

Although Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB is yet to respond to the new development, Emma Powerful, IPOB’s  Media and Publicity Secretary said the group was not against anybody declaring Biafra.

“We’re not against anybody declaring Biafra. Biafra is for everybody and not for one person alone. It’s a collective demand; so, we are not against him or any person who will so declare in the future,” Emma Powerful told journalists.

“I also call on our brother Emeka Emeka Esiri to take care of the legal needs of this nascent government.

“My brothers and sisters, the four of us will kick start the process, others will come on board. We want volunteers who are committed, we want volunteers because there is nothing anymore. We are the people who have volunteered to salvage ourselves and the rest of us.

“I also call on Biafrans in the various province of the Biafra nations in Aba, Abakiliki, Anang, Awka, Calabar, Degema, Eket, Enough, Nsuka, Ogoja, Oji River, Okigwe, Onitsha, Opobo, Orlu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Umuahia, Uyo and Yenegoa province.

“We are going to proceed to set up provincial structures of government starting with provincial assemblies and provincial governance and administrators.

“Let nobody be mistaking that a Biafra will be worse than Nigeria. There is nothing that will be worse than what we are facing today in Nigeria”

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