Biafra Day: MASSOB orders churches to hold memorial services for civil war v!ctims

Biafra Day: MASSOB orders churches to hold memorial services for civil war victims

The leadership of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has directed all churches across the South-East and parts of the South-South to conduct special memorial and thanksgiving services on Sunday, May 31, 2026.

The directive was contained in a statement issued by the group’s National Director of Information, Edeson Samuel, ahead of the 59th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra on May 30, 1967, by former Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

MASSOB, led by Uchenna Madu, described this year’s anniversary as significant to the ongoing agitation for the actualisation of Biafra and called for a period of reflection and remembrance across the South-East.

The group also reaffirmed its earlier declaration of a sit-at-home exercise on May 30, 2026, stating that markets, schools, banks, motor parks and other public and private business premises should remain shut from 6am to 4pm.

According to the statement, the shutdown is intended as a mark of honour and respect for those who died during the three-year civil war.

“The closure of public places and services on May 30, 2026 are marks of honour, respect and patriotism to our fatherland,” the group stated.

MASSOB said there would be no street protests, marches or public processions during the anniversary celebration, adding that Sunday, May 31, would serve as a day of national thanksgiving for Biafrans.

The group also used the occasion to demand the release of imprisoned leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, claiming he was being persecuted because of his support for Biafra agitation.

“We demand his immediate release and call for justice for all Biafrans who have been unjustly detained or persecuted,” the statement added.

MASSOB further predicted that Nigerian security agencies would deploy heavily across major cities in the South-East during the commemoration, describing such measures as evidence of what it called the Nigerian government’s “fear” of the Biafra movement.

The group insisted that intimidation, arrests and security operations would not stop the agitation for self-determination in the region.