Biafra: To marry and bury dey make pipo fear as fight-fight increase for Southeast

Di gruesome killings wey dey happun continuously, kidnappings and extortion don make pipo of south-eastern Nigeria to dey live in fear. One armed group wey dey fight for di region independence but di line between dia campaign and criminality no dey clear .

Di unrest don force pipo to run away from villages wia dem bin dey live peaceful life until just some years ago.

"My uncle bin run away from di village sake of dis pipo ask am to give dem money to buy guns and bullets. Our villages dey empty sake of say na dem be di law now," one man wey we dem call Chike Anyikwa so we go fit protect am from revenge tok.

Now dem don camp for nearby forests, di armed men don form one parallel goment for Anyikwa ancestral village, and many odas, for Imo State, wey, alongside Anambra State, be hardest-hit by di conflict.

Similar camps dey exist for three oda states, Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu, wey make up di south-east - wey di fighters go like to become di independent state of Biafra.

Di armed men don seize di powers of goment officials and traditional rulers. If anybodi wan do wedding or burial ceremony, dem go need dia permission - and need pay moni to fit go-ahead.

Gang leaders don even take responsibility to dey settle fight among villagers over issues like land rights - dis na sign of di level wey dia control don reach.

Oga Anyikwa dey live for Enugu city and - like thousands of odas - e no fit spend di last two Christmases for im village, breaking wit di tradition of going back to reconnect wit im ancestral roots.

"One relative do traditional marriage for our village. Nobody go. Fear no allow anybodi to go. Di security agents come from Owerri [di capital of Imo State] and den go back sake of many of di police stations don dey destroyed.

"Di law wey pipo sabi be di one wey di unknown gunmen sama dem, who say dem be for Biafra, but we know say dem no be," e add.

Di creation of Biafra be one long-cherished dream of many Igbo pipo wey want di south-east, and part of di Niger Delta, to be dia independent homeland.

Di civil war and birth of Biafra

Dem dey popular for dia entrepreneurial skills, Igbos be Nigeria third-largest ethnic group, wey make up about 15% of di kontri estimated population of about 217 million, according to statista.com.

Di secessionist campaign first gain ground for di 1960s, when one Igbo army officer, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, declare di birth of Biafra, but di attempt for secession end afta one bloody three-year war wey lead to more dan one million deaths from fighting, starvation and lack of medical care.

Despite di failure of Lt-Col Ojukwu campaign, di secessionist sentiment don dey on since den, wit di latest torchbearer wey be di Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) group.

E dey formed for 2012 by two UK-based Igbos, Nnamdi Kanu and Uche Mefor, as one peaceful movement.

E don split into diferent factions - some of wey dey more violent and less disciplined, and dey cause Ipob to lose di support of many Igbos wey bin backed am when e dey formed.

Nigeria goment don proscribe Ipob and court don designated am as "terrorist" organisation.

Attacks across di region by armed men, wey di Nigerian security agencies link to di group, don lead to di killing of hundreds of civilians and security force members since di violence start for 2020.

Women, children and di elderly no dey spared.

For one horrific case of violence during Christmas holiday, di video of one naked woman wey dem tie bin trend for social media.

Pipo later identify her as Nigerian army officer, wey bin go visit her grandmother for Abia State, wen gunmen abducted her, and release di video where dem threaten to kill her.

One female soldier wey travel for her traditional marriage also dey abducted for May 2022 and her captors bin release one video wey show as dem kill and cut her. Her fiancé, one retired soldier, and im nephew also dey killed by di men wey claim to be separatists.

Di abductors of di army officer dey call themselves Unknown Gunmen wey dey fight for Biafra, and deny say dem get connect wit Ipob.

Dis be how many of di gangs dey identify themselves for dia videos, outwardly dey laff di media wey dey often attach violence for di region to unknown gunmen.

Eyewitnesses bin tell di BBC say sojas dey burn homes and businesses for villages as dem dey search for di army officer and her abductors.

Tok-tok pesin for di 34 Artillery Brigade for Obinze for Imo State, Capt Joseph Akubo, bin tell di BBC say sojas no dey responsible for di arson attacks.

Vigilante groups, wey dey dem form wit goment backing to help curb insecurity, also don dey accused of atrocities -one popular case be di killing of five young men wey pipo say dey return from wedding for Awomama village, also for Imo State, for July 2022.

Chigozie Ekesinachi, wey im two siblings dey among di dead, say di state-sponsored vigilante group Ebubeagu dey behind di killings.

One video wey dem release later show as di two elderly men bin face tortured from dia captors, and chop accuse say dem be saboteurs of di Biafran independence campaign.

Plenti oda traditional chiefs don also deyabducted, and dia palaces dey burnt or killed by suspected separatists.

Chidiebube Okeoma, one journalist wey dey cover Imo State for Nigeria Punch newspaper, say di insecurity extend to di state capital.

"Owerri bin dey popular for im nightlife activity, but all dat one don go now sake of pockets of killing. Wen pipo see strange faces, dem go hide . If one car tyre bursts, pipo go start to run. Imo no be like dis before," e tok.

Di city, like all oda cities and towns across di south-east, dey deserted every Monday, as separatists dey enforce one "sit-at-home" order, close businesses, schools and goment offices.

E don make students to miss important exams and businesses dey suffer heavy financial losses.

"Even di govnors dey inside dia goment houses, dey obey di sit-at-home order," Oga Anyikwa add.

Im fear say many pipo for di south-east no go dey able to vote for next month general election, as some of di separatist factions don ask pipo to boycott di polls.

Also, armed men, wey dey claim say dem dey act for di Biafra cause, don attack offices of di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) and pipo wey dey register to vote. Dem also kill one INEC staff member for 2022.

"I dey very ashamed about di state of insecurity for di south-east," Oga Anyikwa tok.

President Muhammadu Buhari, wey fight for di Nigerian side during di Biafran civil war, don vow to treat di separatists for "di language dem understand" for June 2021, dis one draw widespread criticism and di deletion of di tweet by Twitter.

Oga Okeoma dey hope Buhari successor go take steps to resolve di conflict for di south-east and conflicts for oda parts of Nigeria.

"E be failure of goment," e tok.

"E be something wey fit dey resolved if one holistic approach dey followed,"Oga Okeoma also add.