The recent comment by Mujahid Asari-Dokubo has again brought to the fore the lingering feud between him and the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Asari-Dokubo, leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force recently accused Kanu of using the struggle for the actualisation of the Biafra Republic to make money.
Asari-Dokubo, in a video he released on social media, also described Kanu as a criminal.
He had said: "They are now telling us India, Russia, etc. This is how they audit accounts. This is what Biafra will look like under the criminal Nnamdi Kanu.
“They claim that they brought money to Cotonou to give to me — N20 million. We are waiting for them to bring the evidence. They came to Cotonou to meet with me and I hosted them. They did not bring a dime.
“How is that an audited account? Why do Igbo people allow you, a conman, to be conning them? Igbos, you have to rise. He wants to destroy Onyeama. He wants to destroy (Ike) Ekweremadu. He wants to destroy everybody and the Igbo people are keeping quiet.
“Biafra is your business now, you have no other avenue for gainful income. It is a pity how Igbo people have fallen for this evil, but your time is up.
“I am out for you. And I will get you. I just asked that our people be allowed to vote and you sent your dogs. I’ve broken their teeth.
“Nnamdi Kanu, I’m not in your category but for this, I will surely bring you down. I will destroy this evil empire that is working as a hindrance to the restoration of Biafra.”
Both Asari-Dokubo and Kanu have been at the forefront of the struggle for the actualisation of Biafra.
The pair started on a relatively good note but along the line, they have turned into enemies despite pushing for the same course.
On March 13, Dokubo announced the formation of a Biafra Customary Government (BCG), capitalising on an internal crisis within the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Nnamdi Kanu.
Amid the ensuing face-off, some prominent figures formerly loyal to Kanu have switched camp for Dokubo's BCG.
For instance, Kanu’s former deputy, Uche Mefor, is now BCG’s Head of Information and Communication.
While announcing the formation of the BCG, Asari-Dokubo vowed to set up provincial structures for the new government.
Meanwhile, in October 2020, Asari-Dokubo claimed that Kanu had derailed the Biafran struggle.
The agitator, who said he’s a Biafran and believes in its struggle, maintained that the IPOB leader was not in any struggle for the restoration of Biafra.
He claimed with Kanu, there’s no hope for Biafra, stressing that Kanu was not representing the interest of other tribes under Biafra.
It will surprise many that Kanu and Asari-Dokubo had once worked together as comrades in the struggle for Biafra agitation.
However, with some internal crisis within the IPOB, and the subsequent ‘intervention’ of the Niger Delta warlord, moves towards the actualisation of the Biafran dream drags on.
Even before the formation of IPOB by Kanu, many groups had fought for the realisation of Biafra but Kanu had brought IPOB to the limelight with the establishment of a radio, talks on the social media space, and the extra distance of establishing a militant arm for IPOB called Eastern Security Network (ESN).
However, Kanu has constantly pitted himself against the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Government with his use of propaganda to discredit the government.
Kanu was the first person to make a public claim that Buhari died a long time ago and that a clone called Jubril Al-Sudani is the one in power.
Several broadcasts and posts on social media make obvious his disregard for the Buhari administration.
Kanu’s confrontational style earned him troubles with the government and many prominent Igbo leaders but notwithstanding, he has continued with his style.
Asari-Dokubo and Kanu's years of struggles for Biafra are now turned into one against each other.
The two men have oftentimes engaged each other in brickbats, insults, criticisms, accusations, and counter-accusation.
At a time, Asari-Dokubo vowed that nothing could make him ever work with Kanu on the Biafran project again, alleging that Kanu was promoting ‘religious intolerance against non-followers of Judaism,’ a religion Kanu has insisted is the religion of Igbo people.
The former Ijaw Youth group president said, “With Nnamdi Kanu, there’s no hope for Biafra. It gives me regret that in my life, I ever associated with a person called Nnamdi Kanu. I regret that when he was in crisis, I came out to defend him. In fact, my greatest regret is associating with Nnamdi Kanu. I can’t make peace with somebody like him. He has nothing to offer other than to derail our struggle.”
Kanu’s feud with Asari-Dokubo was further given a kick when the Niger Delta militant leader accused the IPOB leader of a myriad of fraudulent activities under the guise of fighting for the Biafran project.
Asari-Dokubo had, at various times, accused Kanu of being a fraudster and a con man who was using the Biafra struggle for his personal gains, further alleging that Kanu was not in any struggle for the restoration of Biafra but his personal gains and that he regretted ever associating with the IPOB leader in the past.
He further accused Kanu of collecting millions of dollars from Igbo businessmen in the Diaspora in the name of fighting for Biafra but ended up pocketing the money.
On another occasion, Asari-Dokubo had said that with Kanu at the forefront of the Biafran agitation, there will be no hope for the dream to come through.
In one of their landmark altercations, Asari-Dokubo had, in June 2020, challenged Kanu to swear if he had not been collecting money from governors and Igbo businessmen in the name of IPOB.
Kanu also accused Asari-Dokubo of collecting N20 million from him in 2016, adding that the money belonged to IPOB, and challenged Asari-Dokubo to swear on the Quran to deny the allegation.
Asari-Dokubo immediately replied through a video he posted on Facebook, asking Kanu to also swear on the Bible or the Torah, the Jewish Holy Book, if he has not been collecting money from South-East governors and prominent Igbos.
