Bight of Biafra 1849, Britain established its military influence over the Bight of Biafra by building a naval base and consulate on the island of Fernando Poo, under the authority of the British Consuls of the Bight of Benin: On 6 August 1861, the Bight of Biafra and the neighboring Bight of Benin (under its own British consuls) became a united British consulate, again under British consuls: In 1967, the Eastern Region of Nigeria seceded from the Nigerian State and adopted the name of its coastline, the adjoining Bight of Biafra, becoming the newly independent Republic of Biafra. This independence was short-lived as
Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra in Anambra state arrested no fewer than 25 MOSSAB members who were marking their 16th anniversary; one MASSOB member was shot. At St Charles Lwanga Catholic Church Okpoko,18 members were arrested and one shot and at Iba Pope Catholic Church, while at Awada, 11 members of MASSOB were arrested. At Awka, two MASSOB were arrested by the police according to the MASSOB former Deputy Director of Information, Mazi Chris Mocha On May 31, 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan, a Niger Deltan Ijaw from Bayelsa State and from the South-South geopolitical zone, branded MASSOB to be one of three extremist groups threatening