Aborigines in the coastal areas of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River (BRAC) have rejected its inclusion in the proposed map of Biafra.
BRAC said it will not allow its identity to be tempered with adding that their area which is giving the country over seventy per cent revenue has been neglected.
The group gave 90 days ultimatum to Biafran agitators to expunge their areas from their proposed map.
Speaking during a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, the national coordinator of BRAC, Doris McDaniels said they are for one Nigeria adding that they will resort to any means to seek for justice after the expiration of the 90 days ultimatum.
“Let me state categorically here that while BRAC does not intend to be seceded from the South-South region, member states have not been achieving much under the umbrella of the Niger Delta region. There is no collective agenda to rely on, to map out present and future development of our people and the coastal region,”she said.
McDaniels explained that even though they lack numerical number, this shouldn’t deter them from insisting on holding political and economic leadership positions in Nigeria, noting that the coastal region is the richest area in Sub-Saharan Africa and produces 72% of the oil and gas in Nigeria, apart from numerous natural resources that are yet to be tapped within the coast.
It is on this note that McDaniels said no region should lay claim to sharing borderline with the Bight of Biafra except the BRAC coastal areas and that their peculiarity, identity and what they stand for should be respected.
She said, “We are not part of Biafra and will not be. We are independent. Biafra agitators should leave our areas alone”, McDaniels said when asked about the possibility of the area joining the Biafra struggle.’’
