Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu prayed that crude oil be discovered in the northern region in commercial quantity, the group said on Friday.
According to a statement by the group’s spokesman Emma Powerful, Kanu prayed for the discovery of crude oil in the north so that the south-east can be allowed secession.
This is coming after President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, flagged off the commercial production of crude oil and gas from the $3 billion Kolmani Integrated Development Project.
The Kolmani project is located along the fields of Gombe and Bauchi, with Oil Prospecting Licence 809 and 810, lying in the Gongola Basin of the Upper Benue Trough, joining the two northern states.
While addressing the country at the event, Buhari said the Kolmani River field attracted $3 billion worth of investments.
However, IPOB said in its statement that the northern region has been reluctant to let Biafra happen because it benefits from the proceeds of the crude oil in the south-east, despite having solid minerals.
The statement partly read, “Northern Nigeria has large deposits of many solid minerals. But because they thirst for oil, they are ready to do unimaginable things because of oil in Biafra land.
“Today, God Almighty has settled the contraption’s age-long problem of unity occasioned by crude oil.”
The IPOB further said, “Crude oil discovery in the North will for certain settle this forced unity if indeed they are truthful in settling Nigeria’s problem. Oil or no oil, Biafrans are not interested. All we need is a conducive environment to do our business without fear of terrorists at our borders.
“The discovery of over a billion barrels of crude oil in Gongola Basin is another important thing that has happened to the Northerners.”
It added that “the prophecy of Nnamdi Kanu has come true because he prayed in one of his Radio Biafra broadcasts that God should give to the North oil so that Nigeria’s problem will be solved once and for all.
“Now that every component part of Nigeria has oil, can we all go our separate ways and mind our own businesses?”
