By ROBERT EGBE

Agitation for an independent state of Biafra suffered a setback Friday with a former Niger Delta militant leader, Asari Dokubo describing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, as an “idiot.”

Asari, a former leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and pro-Biafran, alleged Kanu’s faction was promoting religious intolerance against non-followers of Judaism.

He alleged that Kanu’s followers had threatened to kill Christians and Muslims in the proposed country and make Biafra “a Jewish State”.

In videos on his Facebook page, Dokubo, a self-styled Islamic Mujahid, shared a Facebook video of Kanu condemning pastors.

“Every pastor in Nigeria is evil. If you’re going to church, you’re going to hell! Direct! Because the message you’re receiving, they’re from messengers of darkness, of liars and deceivers,” Kanu said in the 21- second clip.

But responding, Dokubo said he could not work with such people, because his Biafra would guarantee religious freedom.

“All of us are Biafrans, a set of Biafrans now decide that they have the right of life and death over all of us, that they are going to kill all Christians, that they’re going to close down all churches.

“They have started going, breaking down the monuments of Mary, Angel Gabriel and all sort of things, they have proclaimed our Biafra, our own Biafra, a Jewish state.

“They are going to kill all Moslems, including myself, a critical stakeholder, a formal stakeholder in our Biafra – they will kill me! They will kill every member of my family, they will kill every Muslim.

“And they say go and work with Nnamdi Kanu, go and work with Nnamdi Kanu. Who is this idiot you want me to go and work with?

“What are his credentials in our struggle? He rants. What is his badge of honour? 76 times in detention, still counting. I have not given up, I have not run away. I am not Ben Johnson, I am not Usain Bolt.” (Text, excluding headline, courtesy The Nation)

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