User:Halabazzaz/sandbox

= Indigenous People of Biafra = The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a separatist group that leads the calls for Biafran Independence in Nigeria. Its main aim is to create an independent state for the people of southeast Nigeria, declaring a new Republic of Biafra. The group was founded in 2014 by Nnamdi Kanu, who has resurfaced the issue of independence. They have issued calls for a peaceful settlement of their grievances through a referendum in the South-East Nigerian states.

Supporters of Biafran independence are largely from the Igbo ethnic group which totals 14% of Nigeria’s population. The IPOB claims that they are marginalized by the government in Abuja through lack of resource distribution, poor investment, and an unfair heavily militarized presence in their region. The IPOB rose to prominence after previous Biafran independence organizations weakened. The Nigerian government has allegedly been cracking down on IPOB members who have been protesting due to Kanu's arrest.

Background Information
Biafra had previously existed as an independent Republic declared by Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu for three years, 1967 through 1970. The federal government fought hard to preserve the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and did not like the idea of an independent state- Biafra, in southeast Nigeria. The result of tensions between Biafra and the federal government resulted in the Nigerian civil war that went on for three years. There were an estimated one to two million deaths that were heavily civilian casualties caused by starvation and death. In 1970, the Biafran forces surrendered and Biafra was disintegrated. From 1970 onwards, Nigeria remained a united nation.

Leadership
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra is Nnamdi Kanu who is a dual British and Nigerian citizen. He created IPOB after he initially gained fame from his broadcasts on Radio Biafra, which was established in 2009. This was a radio station from London that broadcast messages that called for an independent state, and critiqued the federal government of Nigeria. Radio Biafra catalyzed Kanu’s rise to the public scene, as he was previously an unknown figure. Kanu was arrested by Nigerian security forces on 19 October 2015, on the charges of “sedition, ethnic incitement and treasonable felony. ”

Links with other Groups
There have been many other pro-Biafran groups that have come into existence. The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) began gaining attention in the early 2000’s, along with the Biafra Zionist Front (BZF) which rose to the spotlight in 2012. The Indigenous People of Biafra emerged in 2014, well after these other groups.

IPOB emerged to continue the movement that had been championed by MASSOB. MASSOB was formed in 1999 by its national leader Ralph Uwazuruike. However, the organization was severely weakened due to alleged state repression and disagreement within the group about leadership. MASSOB accused  Uwazuruike of associating himself with “mainstream Nigerian politics” instead of furthering the cause of Biafra. These conflicts contributed to the formation of another faction named BZF. BZF leader Benjamin Igwe Onwuka and many members of the group were arrested for treason by the Nigerian government at a rally that took place on 5 November 2012 in the region of Enugu. BZF’s activities were scaled down because of arrests and trials of many lead members of the organization. Both of these pro-Biafran groups set up the rise of IPOB which would continue championing the same causes.

Protest
There has been recent protest in the country regarding IPOB. The organizations leader and a prominent activist named Nnamdi Kanu has been arrested by Nigeria’s Department of State Services on 19 October, 2015. In response to his arrest there has been a group of pro-Biafran protesters who have been leading marches in southeastern Nigeria to push for his release. His arrest has pushed IPOB supporters into gaining further traction, as their mobilization grew. There have been many protesters and police clashes; on 2 December, 2015, nine protesters and two policemen were killed at a protest in Onitsha, Anambra state. Since that date, there have been several protesters who have been reportedly killed by policemen in Aba, Onitsha, Enugu and Umuhahia. The cause in rising protests are attributed to the claimed political disenfranchisement among the Igbo people and much trauma that continues as an effect of the Nigerian Civil war.

IPOB supporters have cited historical events such as the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, and Britain's vote to exit the European Union as proof of international support for “self-determination. ” According to many sources, Donald Trump’s victory provides hope for the IPOB group in their ability to secede from Nigeria. Trump’s political interests are in line with supporting Biafra, because of oil pursuits. U.S oil company outputs in Nigeria have been cut by militants in the Niger Delta who have been continually attacking pipelines. Therefore, IPOB figures contend that it is within the United State’s economic interest to support the Biafran secessionist movement due to agitations in the region. However, as of yet Trump has made no public statement in support of Biafran self-determination.

The pro-Biafran protesters are calling for the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu and other Biafran activists that have been jailed. Most importantly they want an independence referendum to have a date set by the government. The editor of pro-Biafran media outlet ‘Voice of Biafra’ Nnabuike Nnadede stated that the Igbo people suffer from a lack of resources and investment from the Nigerian government. The main reason for their protests are because they want the opportunity to vote for independence.

State Response and Treatment
The Federal High Court in Abuja has labelled the IPOB as a terrorist organization on 18 September  2017. The IPOB have fought against this proscription, and sought to reverse the court's decision in 2018. However, their attempt has ultimately been unsuccessful, and they continue to be declared as terrorist organization under Nigeria’s Terrorism Act.

According to sources, the Nigerian State has utilized violent and excessive police force in order to silence pro-Biafran movements. This police violence has been ongoing from 2014, first targeting MASSOB and IPOB after its formation. In 2008, MASSOB claimed that 2,020 of their members had been massacred and extra-judicially killed by the state. Amnesty International released a report detailing that around 50 IPOB protesters were killed between the 39th through 30th of May 2016 during a governmental operation wanting to prevent IPOB members marching from Nkpor motor park to a rally. The Nigerian army claims that they were acting in self-defense, and that the death count lies at 5 instead of 50. These killings have not been investigated by Nigeria, despite urgings from Amnesty International.

Human rights organizations have been keeping records of extrajudicial killings in Southeast Nigeria. They claim that from August 2015 through February 2016, 170 unarmed civilians were killed and that 400 were arrested, charged or detained without a proper trial.

Kanu's Trial and Detention
The leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu has failed to appear in court since April 25, 2017 to answer to the charges against him by the federal government. He had previously been detained without trial for over a year and was arraigned on November 8, 2016 for charges of criminal conspiracy, membership of an illegal organization and intimidation. He was granted bail on April 2017 because of health concerns that the judge said needed better medical attention that couldn’t be provided by the prison. However, he was barred from granting interviews, meeting in groups larger than ten individuals, organizing and attending rallies or social functions. Kanu disappeared after September 2017 after an alleged attack on his home village, Umuahia. Through a Radio Biafra broadcast he explains that his disappearance is because President Muhammdu Buhari sent the military to execute him in his home. The military denies the occurrence of this raid. There has been speculation that Kanu had fled to Israel for safety, after a facebook livestream video depicted an individual resembling Kanu praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Israeli foreign ministry stated that Israel cannot confirm this allegation as they do not have any evidence of Kanu in the country. Now, the court has revoked the bail of Kanu and the trial judge Binta Nyako has ordered the immediate arrest of Kanu and stated that his treasonable felony will proceed despite his absence.

Article Evaluation:

The article that I have chosen to evaluate is "The Women's War." This article does a great job of staying relevant to the topic at hand. I think to understand the Women's War in Nigeria one has to understand the history of colonialism and how it changed the position of women in society. The article does a good job at explaining this past history that has resulted in the ultimate riot. I do not think that there was any distracting information, because everything written tied back to the topic and to understanding how it actually occurred. However, the organizational structure of the article could use some improvement. The content should be grouped in a more consistent manner. For example, the first headline is "history of women organizing in Nigeria." I think this should be switched out to a summary of the women's war, and how it happened, then the causes, followed by the history of women organizing. The name discrepancy should also come in the beginning of the article and not the end. The end should be "Results." Overall, the article has great content but it is being limited by a confusing organizational structure which can definitely be improved upon. Additionally, the article does not have sufficient inline citations. This makes it difficult to know what the list of references corresponds to, and harder to discern if the sources are actually referenced accurately. The tone of the article is neutral and does not seem to have a heavily biased position. It explains the Women's War and the contributing causes and effects without taking a stance or pushing a particular agenda.

~Hala Bazzaz

Adding Citations Exercise:

A region in Nigeria called Biafra wanted to secede from the state. The population of Biafra believed that the Nigerian government was not taking their security and safety seriously, this resulted in a war lasting from July 7, 1967 to January 15, 1970.