Former Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Ovie Omo-Agege, has said it is an insult to include the Urhobo Nation in a proposed resurrection of the defunct Biafra Republic.

According to him, separatist groups, like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), have already included Urhobo people and their land in a Biafra map.

In an interview seen on social media, Omo-Agege noted that Urhobo was never part of the defunct Biafra Republic that tried to secede from Nigeria in the 60s and will never be.

He said, "We started seeing maps being drawn that include Urhobo Nation as part of Biafra. These are maps being drawn by IPOB, MASSOB and their latest hero.

"Let me just state this. Everyone has a right to agitate for their people. Nobody will say the Igbos do not have a right to agitate for themselves. The Nigerian union as it is today is not perfect union. Everybody should strive to correct those imperfections.

"I respect their right to self-determination. I respect their right to agitate on behalf of their people. What we will not countenance is for them, without consulting Urhobo people, to include Urhobo people as part of their map of the Republic of Biafra.

"What made it all the more insulting to us as Urhobos is that, unlike maybe Anioma, which was part of the Biafra Republic because of stakeholdership and kindrenship. We, the Urhobos, don't have that. We were never part of the Republic of Biafra, we are not now, and we do not plan to be part of that."

ASA