Biafra belongs to Ijaw not Igbos – Asari Dokubo

Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force (NDPSF), Asari Dokubo has revealed that the Biafra nation originated from the Ijaw entity, a tribe in Bayelsa, Delta and other states in the South-south.

According to Dokubo, Biafra is an Ijaw name and has nothing to do with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as led by the embattled secessionist, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

While speaking in a television interview in Yenagoa, the ex-militant recalled that an Ijaw man called Frank Opigo, gave the name Biafra, which according to him was subsequently adopted by the Eastern region and was used in 1967 when the Republic of Biafra was declared.

“Ijaws are divided between the Bight of Benin and Bight of Biafra. We are the owners of Biafra. Biafra is an Ijaw name. The territory identified as Ijaw is Biafra with parts of Ibiobio and Oron,” he said.

“In 1967, the Eastern Consultative Assembly was convened in Enugu and then Frank Opigo, an Ijaw man, moved the motion that Biafra should be adopted as the name and it was accepted.

“Then on the 30th of May, the Republic of Biafra was declared which included the eastern region within our territory, so Biafra has nothing with Igbo,” he said.

He said the history is contained in a book authored by an Ijaw revolutionary, Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro.