Following the publicised move by Britain to recruit some Africans into its military, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has warned youths from the Southeast to desist from partaking in the exercise, claiming it is a ploy to sacrifice people of the zone in Britain’s wars.
Spokesman of the group, Emma Powerful, who gave the warning in a statement further accused Britain of taking undue advantage of the unemployment situation in Nigeria and some other African countries to lure their youths to get recruited into its army.
His statement reads in part: “The British government has commenced the recruitment of Africans to fight its wars as it did decades ago. During WW1, the British and (other) 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 the Igbo and South Easterns; others (were) from the 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 those African soldiers who died in defense 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 recognised after the war,” Powerful explained.
He also added: “Similarly, during the 1939-1945 WWII, thousands of Africans were recruited and sacrificed for Britain to become a superpower. The ongoing plan to recruit Africans again, especially Biafrans, to be sacrificed for the colonial imperialist will not work.
“The people of Biafran will never be sacrificed for those who don’t recognise us as human beings. We can confidently understand that our fathers told us that they fought to save the United Kingdom during the Second World War but were abandoned by the British Government.
“Instead of compensating our fathers that fought for them, Britain supported the Nigerian government to commit the unprecedented genocide against Biafrans during the 1967-1970 war. Biafrans should not allow themselves to be recruited to fight for a selfish and treacherous imperialist country that showed us that it hates us.
“Therefore, any African who falls for this strange gift to join the British Army should remember that they will meet the fate that our fathers met when they fought for Britain. Those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it and become the victims of (the same) history.
“IPOB is warning Biafrans to shun the ongoing British military recruitment. They don’t mind that they said it is for 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.
“Also, the rate of unemployment in Nigeria, which Britain is using to recruit their sacrificial lambs, is largely contributed by the exploitative foreign policies of Britain in Nigeria. Africans, particularly Biafrans, should not volunteer to go and die for the subjugator and coloniser, but if you fail to adhere to IPOB’s advice, you will regret it,” Powerful maintained.
Credit: The Sun