The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Saturday declared that the sovereign state of Biafra when actualised will not be a member of the Organisation of Islamic Countries, OIC, but that it will welcome the Shiite movement.
This was as the secessionist group announced that the constitution of the proposed Republic of Biafra would be a collective responsibility of all the people and not that of an individual as was the case of Nigeria where the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar wrote the 1999 Constitution and forced Nigerians to accept.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Emma Nmezu and Dr Clifford Chukwuemeka Iroanya, the group also said the Biafra constitution would not make provisions for Sharia.
The statement reads, “The Constitution of Biafra shall be a collective effort of Biafran citizens. Every Biafran will participate in the formulation and ratification of the constitution. No single individual will arrogate the powers to himself/herself to write the nation’s constitution.
“This was the case in Nigeria where General Abdulsalami Abubakar singlehandedly wrote the constitution and falsely stated in the introduction that We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…Do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution…
“Nothing can be farther from the truth because the people of Nigeria never came together to discuss, enact and give themselves the constitution. Technically, a constitution is made by the citizens of a nation and not the people; because the people may or may not be the citizens of that nation.
“The blessed nation of Biafra shall never be a member of any Islamic body. Biafra shall maintain its secularity both in principles and in practice unlike the British-created country called Nigeria that professes secularity in principle but a ranking member of OIC in practice.
“Also, citizens will not be forced to practice a particular religion. There will be freedom of worship for adherents of all faiths without molestation. If the persecuted Shiite sect members wish to relocate to Biafraland, we would gladly accommodate them along with other tormented Christians in the North (Arewa land).
The group recently urged the National Assembly to sack President Muhammadu Buhari, citing the rise in human right violation since he was sworn in last year.
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