Nigerian Civil War veterans who fought on the side of Biafra have threatened to take up arms against the federal government if they are not properly demobilized and their entitlements fully paid.
The veterans issued the threat in a statement made available to newsmen in Owerri, Imo State.
The statement was signed by Major C. Okechukwu, Adjutant-General and Col. Ubi Ikoi, Commandant of the Eastern/Mid-Western Regional Command.
Others who also endorsed the statement are Engr. Major Marcelinus Igwe, Commander, Major Ihetu Shedrack, Second-in-Command, Moses Duru, Adjutant, and Capt. Ama Earnest, Officer-in-charge of Pay and Records in the Imo State Command.
The veteran soldiers regretted what they described as injustice that has been meted out to them in the past 43 years in spite of the ‘no victor, no vanquished’ declaration after the war by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon (rted).
They also bemoaned a situation whereby government had settled those of the Northern Regional Command leaving behind those of Eastern/Mid-Western Commands to wallow in dehumanizing conditions.
They reminded the federal government that they are fully trained military personnel who would out-number and overwhelm any number of combatant soldiers which the federal government could muster presently.
The veteran soldiers said they had remained quiet all this while owing to the challenges facing the country but maintained that their patience could snap any moment from now.
Courtesy: Gele Agba
