Jubilation erupts in  Onitsha and some parts of Okpoko, in Anambra State, yesterday following the release of 11 out of the 14 members of the Movement for Actualization of the Sovereign State of Bi­afra (MASSOB) and Biafra Independence Movement (BIM) from police custody.

The freed members in­cluded Lady Pauline Mu­oghalu, Nze Duru Alisi, and nine others who were among the persons of the group that were arrested by the JTF which comprised the Police, Army, NDLEA and NSCDC and taken into police custody during a peaceful procession on 13th September 2016 to mark 17 years of nonviolent agitation for Biafra independence.

In a statement on Saturday in Onit­sha shortly after they were granted bail by the chief magistrate’s court sitting in Atani in Ogbaru Local Gov­ernment, BIM’s Director of Information, Mazi Chris Mocha urged them to re­main steadfast in the strug­gle.

Mocha also advised various splinter groups to emulate the non-violent approach of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike-led MASSOB-BIM in carrying out their agitations for Biafra, stat­ing that it was same non-vi­olent method that most re­nowned emancipators like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, among others employed and emancipat­ed their people.

Mocha warned splinter groups not to hide under the cover of MASSOB-BIM to cause trouble, urging secu­rity agencies to arrest and prosecute anyone who at­tempts to use the name of the group to perpetrate evil in the society.

Mocha however, re­quested the Nigerian Army in Onitsha to avoid taking the laws into their hands but hand over to the police 18 of MASSOB-BIM mem­bers in their custody since last month September 13 for prosecution.