Biafra separatist group calls for independence referendum

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group has advised Biafran separatists both at home and in diaspora to be prepared for a referendum to decide whether to be an independent sovereign country apart from Nigeria.

The group stated that ethnic Igbos have a right under international law to decide their fate through a referendum, the same way Britain exercised its right to leave the European Union without the permission of the European Parliament or European Council. 

A statement by media and publicity secretary secretary Mr. Emma Powerful noted that Scotland had also exercised its right to self-determination and so had the French-speacking Quebec region in Canada.
Powerful said that the United Nations will have the mandate to monitor the referendum process and ensure compliance with the will of the people so expressed.
“The IPOB leadership wants to use this opportunity to let Biafrans and the entire world know that we want to go and we are calling on civilized nations of the world and the rest of humanity. We invite the international community, men and women of goodwill to come and monitor this peaceful referendum in Biafraland… We Biafrans in pursuit of our inalienable, irreducible and God-given right to restore our stolen sovereignty do, hereby state, that we do not require the permission of the Nigerian state or her government officials to grant us our natural freedoms,” the separatist spokesman declared.