MASSOB terror: Indigenes of Umudike community, in Imo State, cry out over activities of pro-Biafran group; allege rape and high-handedness
By HENRY UMAHI (kinghenrysun@yahoo.com) and UCHE ONWUCHEKWA

Saturday, January 9, 2010
Ndubuisi Dim is a pathetic sight. An indigene of Umudike, in Owerre-Okwe autonomous community of Onuimo Local Government Area in Imo State, he is heart-broken and a psychological wreck. Gnashing his teeth, his voice betrays his pains, anguish and grief.



[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jan/9/sun/MASSOB-HQ[1].gif[/img]
MASSOB head quarter



http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jan/9/505.html


A father of four, Dim had the misfortune of watching his wife and daughter raped mercilessly in his farm recently. The sickening attack, which caused a wave of shock and revulsion, were allegedly carried out by members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra ( MASSOB).

Narrating how he watched in horror as a group of men sexually assaulted his wife and daughter, Dim said that the sad memories of the day would never fade.

He said: “On the fateful day, an Afor day, I was working in the farm with my wife and daughter, when the evil men, wielding guns and machete, emerged from the bush and grabbed them. I was on the other side of the farm but when I heard them screaming, I ran there to find out what the problem was. Then I saw a group of men dragging my wife and daughter into the bush and raped them in my presence. I could not do anything because they were well armed and their eyes were blood-red. Even when I tried to shout, they threatened to kill me.

“This is the worst thing that could happen to a man. It is man’s inhumanity to man at the worst level. They are not humanbeings but beasts. They are evil men. They are MASSOB people; they have been terrorizing us for sometime now.”

Asked how he knew that those who sexually assaulted his wife and daughter were actually MASSOB members, he said that members of the group were not difficult to identify.

According to him: “ We know them; they are strangers; they are not from our community, we know ourselves. Most of them are from Ebonyi, Enugu, Cross River, Anambra and Akwa Ibom states and elsewhere. Also, they move about in MASSOB uniforms and vests. They have badges and mementoes.”

Dim added that he reported the incident at the headquarters of MASSOB in Okigwe but was treated disdainfully. According to him, he took his wife and daughter, a Secondary School student to the hospital for treatment after the attack. He disclosed that the effect of the assault on the family is unimaginable.

Dim is not the only person from Umudike in agony. Also speaking with Saturday Sun in the palace of Eze Bernard Obi, Onyeoruru I of Owerre-Okwe, Mr. Paul Okoro said that his 20 year-old-daughter, Juliana, was brutally raped by men adorning attires of green, red and black colours embossed with the rising sun, which is the Biafran symbol.

The 50-year-old man maintained that since Juliana was dragged into the bush and cruelly raped in turns, she has remained in trauma.

He said: “She has not been her normal self since the men assaulted her recently. After the incident, we took her to the hospital for treatment. Tests were also conducted on her and thankfully, she was not infected with any disease.”

But if Juliana was lucky not to have contracted any sexually transmitted disease, the case of Ngozi, a 19-year-old student, is different. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Ngozi, who hails from Umuibe, Ezeana Okwe, told Saturday Sun that the rapists infected her with syphilis.

“When the results of the test came, they said that I had syphilis. I was a virgin before they raped me,” she sobbed. She revealed that four men raped her without condoms.

Also, on the list of ladies recently raped in the community is one Chinyere (surname withheld), who is physically challenged. It was gathered that because of her physical incapacitation, she has been assaulted severally and forced to prepare meals for the attackers.

Owing to the activities of the rapists, it was gathered that women in the area are now endangered species. According to Mr. Goddy Okoro, the vice-chairman, Umudike Owerre Okwe autonomous community, the rampaging rapists have caused women terror in the community. He said that they waylay women and pounce on them where they are extremely vulnerable.

It was gathered that pregnancies have also resulted from the unrestrained assaults. One of the victims said to have become pregnant in the process is one Miss Ejima Uchegbu. When members of her family confronted the rapists, they were threatened.

Sources further claimed that MASSOB members are also used to settle claims or to handle civil cases whereby “justice” is awarded to the highest bidder. Many have allegedly lost their lives as a result of torture in the hands of MASSOB members.

The source said: “For instance, one Mr. Anthony, alias Best Man, a photographer, died two days ago after he returned from the torture chamber. The man, who hailed from Diakuma community, in Umunna, had two wives. MASSOB people beat him to a pulp and he died two days later.

“Also, they broke the legs of Mr. Simeon Lebeanya and he stayed in hospital for three months. His wife dragged him there after a minor quarrel.”

Saturday Sun learnt that MASSOB operates illegal roadblocks in various parts of Onuimo LGA of Imo State. When Saturday Sun visited the area recently to verify the allegations, road blocks with bamboo bearing Biafran flag were seen at various locations. They include the junctions between Umudike-Ofeke and Umunamu Central School Road; entrance to Okwe from Ezelu village; Ofeke Owerre Okwe road as well as entrance to Umudike village from Umuna and Okwe Central School.

Extortions go on freely on the locations, while cannabis is freely smoked. Those who do not pay the illegal toll are beaten black and blue.

Mr. CY Igwe, a Lagos-based transporter and father of three, said of this: “For instance, Mr. Raymond, a community leader, was beaten to an inch of his life for trying to call the MASSOB people to order. They force the rural dwellers and visitors to pay them before passing; otherwise the person will be dealt with. They carry out their illegal activities with impunity and high level of audacity. Can you imagine that they rape women in broad day light without any fear? That is how bad the situation is.”

Saturday Sun also visited the MASSOB detention camp at Okai, in Umunna. There, people are illegally detained and forced to buy their freedom. It was gathered that the operatives specialise in breaking their victims’ legs, known as “Itu down” in local parlance.

Okoro said that Umudike community farmland, measuring about 5,000 acres, has been confiscated by MASSOB, adding: “The community is under siege; we are living in bondage.”

Meanwhile, the Owerre-Okwe autonomous community has written a petition to the presidency and security agencies intimating them of the “many rebellious acts and atrocities committed” by MASSOB.

In the petition dated December 2, 2009, from the chambers of I.O. Egbo & co, they listed the atrocities of the group as: “Recruitment and maintenance of a private army and police force comprising both Nigerians and some mercenaries that are not Nigerians; the confiscation of and turning into a barrack for his MASSOB Biafran army and police force militants, the house of one Mr. Albert Uzoho, a retired teacher, which is directly opposite the Onuimo Local Government Area Sports Centre, a corner piece bounded by Umudike-Ofeke Owerre-Okwe Road and Umunanu-Umuogele Road, Okwe; the introduction and enforcement of the usage of ‘Biafran currency,’ which the MASSOB Biafran army and police militants thrust on the helpless farmers and take their farm produce away, thereby making the helpless and poor villagers remain hopeless while frustration and death have increased in the community as a result of the frequent attacks and brutalization.”

The petition also alleged that the group illegally hoisted Biafran flags in strategic places in Onuimo Local Government Area, particularly on the land its members seized. It also listed raping and assault of women.

The petition said: “The kidnapping and raping of women and girls in the community by MASSOB Biafran militants are now on the increase. The most recent and most pathetic incident is the raping, at gunpoint, of a mother and her daughter in the presence of the husband and father.”

All efforts to speak with the leadership of MASSOB, especially its leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuike, proved abortive. The MASSOB leader was unavailable when Saturday Sun visited the group’s headquarters in Okigwe and all his phone numbers were either switched off or unavailable.

Nigeria or Africa is full of power drunk people . . .