Movement for the actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra founder Ralph Uwazuruike jailed

MOVEMENT for the actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob) founder  Chief Ralph Uwazuruike has been jailed for one month by the Owerri High Court after being found guilty of contempt of court.

Chief Uwazuruike, who founded Massob in 1999, in the aftermath of the Nigerian elections that produced President Olusegun Obasanjo, has been a passionate advocate for the recreation of the defunct republic of Biafra. Following the death of the former Biafran leader Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu in 2011, Chief Uwazuruike was named his successor and crowned the Ezeigbo.

For his pains, Chief Uwazuruike has spent long spells in detention and was charged with treason in 2005 at the Federal High Court, Abuja before Justice Binta Nyako. Of late,. however, he appears to have made his peace with the government after Nnamdi Kanu broke away from Massob and founded the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), which has attracted widespread support across the southeast.

This morning, however, Justice Kemakolam Ojiako of the Owerri High Court sent Chief Uwazuruike to prison for a month for disobeying a court order in a case involving him and Barrister Chigozie Iheama over a land dispute. Chief Uwazuruike had disobeyed a directive to appear in court for a case in which he is a plaintiff.

Justice Ojiako ruled: “The plaintiff, Chief Raphael Uwazuruike, is hereby found guilty of contempt/disobedience to the said order of court made on April 2, 2017. That the plaintiff, Chief Raphael Uwazuruike, is hereby committed/sentenced to prison custody and shall be so detained for a period of one month from the date of his commitment to prison.”

It is not yet clear of Chief Uwazuruike will appeal the judgement of not. He has a long history of fighting legal battles with the government and in 2011, Chief Uwazuruike and 280 Massob members were arrested in Enugu at an event in honour of Chief Ojukwu but he was released on the direct orders of  President Goodluck Jonathan.