Biafra: war to the bitter end?
Sir: During the visit of Mr Yuri Gargarin to Sierra Leone, he was asked by a schoolboy whether he saw God and the angels when he was in Heaven up there. 'I did not see any of them, as I was not sent to look for them,' the astronaut replied. The international observers who are now in Nigeria were invited by the Federal government who do not see any trace of genocide by starving the Biafrans, bombing hospitals, schools, crowded markets and refugee camps in Biafra.
A Canadian Member of Parliament, Mr Stephen Lewis, who has been visiting Biafra, said that fears of genocide were 'perfectly well founded.' Another group of Canadian MPS who visited Biafra in the last two weeks were `shocked' by the approach of 'observers' who visited Nigeria and some parts of Biafra under Federal control. These MPS concluded that there was indeed an element of genocide in the war. The whole world saw a Biafran with his hands tied behind his back shot dead by a Federal colonel. The only crime this unfortunate man committed was that he was an Ibo.
UN Secretary-General U Thant's special re- presentative in Nigeria, Mr Nils-Goran Gussing, said that the Federal soldiers had 'deliberately and without provocation' shot the four relief workers. He said that the two Britons, one Swede and one Yugoslav were shot down at a distance of from ten to sixteen feet. Following this in- cident, the Swedish government asked that the soldiers responsible be punished. It is a pity that the Federal authorities have not, as usual, issued camouflaged execution photographs of these offenders.
Those who condemn the Biafran government for crying wolf must remember that these ob- servers are only allowed to visit places after careful preparation by the Federal authorities. If these men want to disprove Biafran claims of genocide, for heaven's sake why not go to Biafra?
Lieut.7Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Biafran Head of State, has said that 'Genocide cannot be proven until it is committed.' Should the world, Christian and otherwise, wait for proof of genocide by the Federal government? Murder, by whoever commits it, is deplorable. When it is committed to force people to submit to alien authority it is downright inhuman. Obi Ohanenye 5 Wolseley Street, Dublin 8
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