On Saturday, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) dissuaded youths in the South-East from participating in the ongoing British army recruitment, saying it is a “deceptive” plot to use and dump them.
News About Nigeria reports that the group gave the warning in a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful.
In the statement, the pro-Biafran group noted that it is giving the warning because many African soldiers who died in defence of Britain during World War 1 were never recognised and those who survived were sent back to Africa without compensation.
They further claimed that while African soldiers were unfairly treated, the British and other counterparts were adequately compensated and recognised after the war.
The statement partly reads, “The family of IPOB led by its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, warns Biafran youths to shun the deceptive move by the British government to recruit them among the Commonwealth citizens to join their Army to fight their future wars. IPOB is calling on Biafran youths to avoid being used as sacrificial lambs by the British government, which has no respect for you or your lives. The British government has commenced the recruitment of Africans to fight their wars as they did decades ago. During WW1, the British and the European countries used Africans to fight their wars. By November 1918, the ‘British Army in East Africa was mainly composed of African soldiers.
“One of the units was the West African Frontier Force, consisting of soldiers drawn from Nigeria, especially Igbos and South Easterners, others from Southern Nigeria, the Gold Coast (Ghana), and Sierra Leone. Another unit was called the King’s African Rifles, recruited from Kenya, Uganda, and Nyasaland (Malawi). Over 180,000 Africans served in the British Carrier Corps. Thousands of these African soldiers who died in defence of Britain were never recognised. At the same time, those of them who survived the war were sent back to Africa without compensation, whereas their British and other counterparts were adequately compensated and recognized after the war.”
IPOB also claimed that the application, though it is said to be for commonwealth countries, is targeted at enslaving Biafrans.
They further queried why it is difficult for Africans to get British work and immigrant visas but very easy to join the British Army.
“IPOB is warning Biafrans to shun the ongoing British military recruitment. They don’t mind that they said it’s commonwealth countries. They are targeting the Biafrans, and we must be very careful. If Britain can have a very strict visa policy for African immigrants, why then do they have a very relaxed and easy application to join the British Army? If Africans do not find it easy to migrate to Britain with a work visa, there are no bases to give Africans a flexible visa to join the British Army.”
