Lagos Advertises Views

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31726, 9 July 1968, Page 13

Lagos Advertises Views

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) NEW YORK, July 8. The Nigerian Federal Government announced in New York today that it would allow the Red Cross and other voluntary agencies to transport food, medical and other relief supplies across Federal lines to suffering thousands in Biafra.

The Lagos Government, headed by Major-General Yakubu Gowon, accused lead-

ers in the secessionist Eastern Province of “exploiting humanitarian feelings to further their gamble." It made the statements in an 8000-word advertisement headed “The Civil War in Nigeria—The Way Out,” filling two full pages of the “New York Times." The Lagos Government said it was making the advertised statement “to inform the American people and assist them in their assessment of the prospects for lasting peace in Nigeria.”

The advertisement was placed by the Nigerian Consulate-General in New York and cost about $15,000.

The Lagos Government also said economic sanctions against Biafra “cannot be lifted before the rebellion Is ended." “Regrettably economic warfare is an integral part of military operations in any war.” The Gowon Government appealed to "friends of

Nigeria” to persuade Biafran leaders to give up secession and seek reintegration into Nigeria. “There is ultimately no way out,” it said. “They are entitled to Insist on adequate arrangements for the security of life and property of Ibos in the East Central State and elsewhere in Nigeria,” the statement said.