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| Mazi Chizoba Unaegbu |
A relation of member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in Obinugwu Autonomous Community in Orlu local government area of Imo State, Mr Harrison Unaegbu, has raised the alarm over his missing cousin, Mazi Chizoba Unaegbu, since 2021 when Nigerian soldiers invaded Orlu town and allegedly attacked some members of IPOB who had gathered in the village to hold a prayer vigil in preparation for the commemoration of six months’ memorial ceremony of one of their deceased members.
Our correspondent reports that Amnesty International, in 2021, declared that Nigerian security forces had killed 115 civilians and militants since the unrest in the Southeastern Nigeria began, while making numerous arbitrary arrests of often uninvolved civilians.
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| Mr Harrison Unaegbu being interviewed by a journalist. |
The insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria, initially known as the Orlu Crisis, is a military conflict that broke out in Orlu from January, 2021, when the Nigerian Army moved to crush the paramilitary wing of the IPOB, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), which escalated after the ESN managed to repulse the initial push by the soldiers.
Unaegbu said he was still traumatized from the family tragedy that had befallen the Unaegbu family because of their son’s disappearance, as Mazi Chizoba was a breadwinner of the family and a benefactor to many indigent members of the village.
He demanded that the Nigeria police and the Federal Government should provide information on the whereabouts of his brother, who he said was a very gentle man, who was only associated with IPOB because of his love for his people and anything that concerns their welfare.
“We have been living from hand to mouth since my brother disappeared and the continued invasions of Orlu by members of the Nigerian armed forces have made life unbearable. We cannot cope. The villages are deserted. There is no type of business that is moving. The army that killed and burnt houses in our village should provide my brother for me.
“Chizoba is a member of IPOB, but he doesn’t look for trouble. All that he and his members are asking for, is a Biafra Republic, to see if our country could be better instead of all these traveling abroad to look for greener pasture.
“I and my family have lived in many parts of the country and there is problem everywhere too. In fact, Chizoba lives in Nasarawa State, but there is no place like home, but one cannot be at home and be treated as a foreigner or a common criminal,” Harrison Unaegbu lamented.
It was revealed that the missing IPOB member, Mazi Unaegbu, just lost his father, Nze Anselm Unaegbu, and that is why the family is now desperate about finding a closure to the issue of their brother's disappearance, as the late Orlu elder cannot be buried without informing his son.
"Our father just died on February 3rd, 2022 this year. Although he is aged, but he was still very strong at the age of 93, he went to farm and did everything others were doing; that is why we are saying that the disappearance of Chizoba caused his sudden death. He died of heartbreak. The Nigerian army has caused a serious tragedy in our family. And we are afraid of the future because our aged mother is now alone, and we do not know what to tell her about the whereabouts of her son and our family hero," he explained.
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