In the run up to Veteran actor, Pete Edochie’s Birthday, he was interviewed in the Igbo language by a journalist who asked him about his stance on the on going agitation about Biafra.
The Journalist asked him if Igbos should aspire to the presidency of Nigeria or seek their own separate state of Biafra.
Pete Edochie responded by ignoring anything about Igbo presidency and delved straight into the issue of Biafra. He started by saying that he is deeply hurt by the killing of unarmed Biafran protesters. He said that there are many people who want Igbos to remain part of Nigeria and many who want Igbos to be independent. He however stressed that if Igbos must be Biafra, it has to be with the Southern Minorities. He said that a landlocked Biafra would be difficult, so effort must be put to carry the minorities along. He reminded the journalist that in the Biafran war, Biafra was the old Eastern Region which included Ogoja, Ijaw, Ibibio amongst others including Igbos.
It should be noted that in 1966 when Igbos were being massacred in the North, Pete Edochie was living in the North with late fellow actor, Enebeli Elebeuwa. When Pete Edochie found out that Igbos were being killed, he went out looking for Enebeli so that they could escape and in the process, Pete himself nearly got lynched. Both men later escaped to the Eastern Region and Pete Edochie worked with Radio Biafra throughout the war.
