•Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared a sit-at-home across every town, village, and city in the South-East on May 30 in honour of all fallen heroes and heroines of Biafra struggle.
In a statement by the Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB described the day as a “sacred day of remembrance for Biafran heroes and heroines” who paid the ultimate price in the defence of people, dignity and collective rights.
It therefore urged Biafrans at home and in the diaspora to observe the “sacred covenant” with discipline, dignity, and reverence worthy of the sacrifices made by those who came before them, reports The Guardian.
The statement further encouraged governors across the 13 states of Biafraland to demonstrate moral courage and historical conscience by flying the Nigerian flag at half-mast on May 30 in honour of the millions who perished during the war and in the years that followed.
“Such a gesture would not diminish anyone; rather, it would acknowledge the humanity of the dead and affirm that their lives mattered,” the statement said.
Powerful also noted that it is not a political ritual, stressing that the generation of 1967–1970 was men for men — a rare breed forged in fire, deprivation, sacrifice, and impossible odds.
“They stood virtually alone against the combined weight of overwhelming military power and yet wrote one of the most astonishing resistance stories in modern history.
“They faced the geopolitical machinery of the United Kingdom (UK), which openly backed Nigeria diplomatically and strategically throughout the war. They faced foreign weapons, Soviet arms supplied to Nigeria despite the Cold War divide, mercenaries, foreign advisers, blockade warfare, aerial bombardment, starvation policies, and hostile forces assembled from far beyond Biafra’s borders. And still they stood.
“Hungry, outgunned, isolated, abandoned by the world — but never broken in spirit. What they defended was more than territory. They defended the right of a people to survive. That is why their memory can never die,” he said.
He added that the world may move on, stressing that history books may reduce their sacrifice to footnotes and governments may prefer silence, “But for us, remembrance is not politics. It is a sacred obligation.
“As long as one Biafran still breathes anywhere on this earth, the story of those men and women must continue to be told. Their courage must continue to be honoured. Their suffering must continue to be remembered.
“So, every May 30 is more than remembrance. It is a covenant. A solemn vow between the living and the dead that their sacrifice will never be erased by propaganda, fear, or time itself.
“We remember the soldiers who fought barefoot with empty stomachs. We remember the scientists who turned scraps into survival. We remember the mothers who buried children and still found the strength to carry on. We remember the civilians who starved under blockade. We remember every fallen hero whose blood watered the survival of a people.”
