Nigeria Media Method of Reportage: An Encouragement to Nigeria Forces To Shoot And Kill Biafra Activists.
By Chima Chibueze
For Family Writers
Ever since the Biafra struggle for freedom started gaining momentum and into the consciousness of the man in the street, there is high influx of volunteers, as well as volunteer groups serving in different capacities of which the Media/writers and the security have been prominent since 2015. The writers offer mainly their writing skills; and the Security dedicate their lives. The young men and women in the Security are usually seen in the front line of rallies and are often the first to be hit whenever Nigeria armed forces open fire at the crowd.
Though the shootings by Nigeria forces are premeditated, they are encouraged by some extra motivations (like any other premeditated murder) which is: (i) the excuse to justify murder and, (ii) the conviction that there will be a proper cover; provided by pro-Nigeria media.
A critical look at the rundown of the ways the Nigerian media spur the country's armed forces to carry out extra-judicial violence on Biafrans reveals the following:
1. falsely labelling Biafra Security as “An Armed Group”.
Ever since the first shooting of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) at Onitsha in August 2015 by the Nigeria navy and police force, the Nigeria Government has been trying very hard, but unsuccessfully, to push forward the narrative that the IPOB is a terrorist group courtesy of falsified news by the Nigeria media. A live video which went viral on the internet captured the Nigeria Police and her Army shooting sporadically at unarmed and defenceless group of IPOB at a school play ground in Aba in 2016, have proved the fact that IPOB is not a terrorist group, hence the ruling by the Federal High Court that the IPOB is legitimate.
However, neither the video (and subsequent videos) or the court ruling seems to stop the Nigeria police and the military from harassing IPOB.
The Nigeria media on the other hand, are bent on unleashing media assault on IPOB at any slightest opportunity through their constant exaggerations, continuous falsehood and public deceit due to misconceptions. The most recent of their falsehood is the launching of libelous campaign against IPOB claiming that the Biafra Security Services which was officially inaugurated on August 15th, is a Biafra army set up in preparation for a civil war. The truth of the matter is that the Biafra Security Service, like the parent IPOB, is totally pacifist.
Although it was officially inaugurated recently at Umuahia as the Biafra Security Service (BSS), it has been around as far back as 2015. Every IPOB family normally selects some young members to do the job of crowd control during rallies and evangelism. These are the young people you see interlocking arms in front of the crowd. They DO NOT carry any form of weaponry or warfare gadgets. Actually, what one could say of these security volunteers is that they are armed with God-given wit and the Biafra banner because of the neat and coordinated manner they maintain smooth crowd movements. If it were to be in a church, they would be called ushers or church wardens. As the Biafra struggle for freedom gains momentum in Biafra Land and due to the constant threat of violence by the Nigerian Government, the Biafran Security volunteers were tasked with identifying possible danger areas and guiding the crowd away from such areas and reconnaissance. Thus, BSS are like watchers and scouts but not a militia. By deliberately and falsely calling IPOB volunteers a militia, what the Nigerian media is essentially telling the Nigerian government is “Come and shoot them up! We have made up enough excuses for you to kill them all!”
2. Spreading Fake Stories of Violence.
This is what the Nigerian media do in a bid to cover up the atrocities committed by the Nigeria Security Agents on Biafrans and eventually cast IPOB in a bad light, especially when there is an incident between IPOB and the Nigerian armed forces. The Nigeria media usually come up with a headline such as “IPOB members clashed with the police”, but the real twist about the fake stories is that they are always inconsistent with the statements by the police that is rather intent on absolving its officers of any kind of violence. Often times, these lies by the Nigeria media are not meant for the Nigeria masses as most Nigerians truly want the Biafran movement “crushed” by all means. Therefore, the target audience is the international readers, whose main sources of stories from Nigeria are of course inevitably the Nigerian media, whom the Nigerian media want to discourage from sympathising with Biafran activists.
Meanwhile, in the real world, IPOB members at the rallies are not allowed to confront the Nigerian Security Agents. As it is the duty of the Biafra Security to maintain and control an orderly and peaceful rally, they do not allow any Biafran to even deviate from the procession, much less allow any violence what so ever. The Biafra security volunteers form a sort of human barricade ahead of the crowd and sometimes encircle the crowd whenever the IPOB rally is confronted by the Nigeria Security Agents. This is the reason why when ever the Nigeria Security agents shoot at the crowd, the Biafra security volunteers are always the first to be shot.
Edited by Orji Munachimso Sandra
For Family Writers Press
By Chima Chibueze
For Family Writers
Ever since the Biafra struggle for freedom started gaining momentum and into the consciousness of the man in the street, there is high influx of volunteers, as well as volunteer groups serving in different capacities of which the Media/writers and the security have been prominent since 2015. The writers offer mainly their writing skills; and the Security dedicate their lives. The young men and women in the Security are usually seen in the front line of rallies and are often the first to be hit whenever Nigeria armed forces open fire at the crowd.
Though the shootings by Nigeria forces are premeditated, they are encouraged by some extra motivations (like any other premeditated murder) which is: (i) the excuse to justify murder and, (ii) the conviction that there will be a proper cover; provided by pro-Nigeria media.
A critical look at the rundown of the ways the Nigerian media spur the country's armed forces to carry out extra-judicial violence on Biafrans reveals the following:
1. falsely labelling Biafra Security as “An Armed Group”.
 |
| Biafra Security Service (BSS) formed human shield |
However, neither the video (and subsequent videos) or the court ruling seems to stop the Nigeria police and the military from harassing IPOB.
The Nigeria media on the other hand, are bent on unleashing media assault on IPOB at any slightest opportunity through their constant exaggerations, continuous falsehood and public deceit due to misconceptions. The most recent of their falsehood is the launching of libelous campaign against IPOB claiming that the Biafra Security Services which was officially inaugurated on August 15th, is a Biafra army set up in preparation for a civil war. The truth of the matter is that the Biafra Security Service, like the parent IPOB, is totally pacifist.
 |
| Biafra Security Service (BSS) |
2. Spreading Fake Stories of Violence.
This is what the Nigerian media do in a bid to cover up the atrocities committed by the Nigeria Security Agents on Biafrans and eventually cast IPOB in a bad light, especially when there is an incident between IPOB and the Nigerian armed forces. The Nigeria media usually come up with a headline such as “IPOB members clashed with the police”, but the real twist about the fake stories is that they are always inconsistent with the statements by the police that is rather intent on absolving its officers of any kind of violence. Often times, these lies by the Nigeria media are not meant for the Nigeria masses as most Nigerians truly want the Biafran movement “crushed” by all means. Therefore, the target audience is the international readers, whose main sources of stories from Nigeria are of course inevitably the Nigerian media, whom the Nigerian media want to discourage from sympathising with Biafran activists.
Meanwhile, in the real world, IPOB members at the rallies are not allowed to confront the Nigerian Security Agents. As it is the duty of the Biafra Security to maintain and control an orderly and peaceful rally, they do not allow any Biafran to even deviate from the procession, much less allow any violence what so ever. The Biafra security volunteers form a sort of human barricade ahead of the crowd and sometimes encircle the crowd whenever the IPOB rally is confronted by the Nigeria Security Agents. This is the reason why when ever the Nigeria Security agents shoot at the crowd, the Biafra security volunteers are always the first to be shot.
Edited by Orji Munachimso Sandra
For Family Writers Press
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