The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) said on Wednesday that it had no intention to force Igbo people to resign from the Nigerian Army and other security agencies.
The separatist group also denied the Nigerian Army’s allegations that its members abducted and assaulted a soldier sent to the South-East to spy on the Biafra movement.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, had claimed in a press statement on Sunday that Simon Ekpa, a self-proclaimed leader of IPOB, circulated a video showing the torture of retired Corporal Toriola Adewale.
The Nigerian Army strongly condemned the alleged assault on the retired soldier, which it attributed to IPOB members.
But in a response on Wednesday, IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, dismissed the Army’s claims as “propaganda” and a “self-staged crime” by the Nigerian Army’s leadership.
Powerful argued that the video of an abducted “spying soldier,” who was reportedly forced to call for the resignation of Biafran soldiers from the Nigerian Army, was a “false flag operation” and not produced by IPOB.
According to him, the IPOB Directorate of State has long distanced itself from Simon Ekpa, but the Nigerian Army continues to link IPOB with Ekpa to tarnish the group’s reputation.
He said, “The Directorate of State of IPOB wishes to debunk the Nigerian Army’s concocted propaganda that peaceful and unarmed IPOB activists abducted a Nigerian soldier sent to Biafra land to spy on the Biafra movement and forced him to call for the resignation of Biafran soldiers in the Nigerian Army.
“The propaganda from the Nigerian Army spokesperson claiming that IPOB captured a spying Nigerian soldier and forced him to deliver a message to Biafran soldiers to resign is a self-staged crime by the Nigerian Army’s leadership. Although IPOB has called for Biafrans serving in Nigerian security agencies to resign, IPOB has never and will never force our brothers and sisters in the Nigerian security agencies to resign under duress.
“IPOB can only appeal to the conscience of Biafrans but will never impose anything on anyone at gunpoint. The Biafra Nation IPOB is championing, which is a nation where rights are guaranteed and respected, guides our people through reasoning.”
“The so-called video of an abducted spying soldier is another false flag operation by the Nigerian Army and their provocateurs to continue their murderous onslaught against Ndigbo. The Nigerian Army has reduced itself to mere social media gossip.”
“IPOB did not abduct any Nigerian soldier. The Army spokesperson should stop linking IPOB to their criminal agents in their efforts to destabilize the South-East. IPOB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu have no relationship with the so-called Biafra Liberation Army.”
According to Powerful, IPOB does not have an army and will not establish one until Biafra is restored.
He added that IPOB operates only the Eastern Security Network, an armed vigilante group targeting marauding Fulani terrorists.
“The call by the Nigerian Army to the ICC, UN, and Amnesty International to take action against IPOB is null and void because these institutions know the truth about IPOB activities. They operate under international laws and respect the right to self-determination. IPOB has not violated the laws governing self-determination.
“These institutions also understand that IPOB is non-violent and that IPOB members are persecuted by the corrupt Nigerian government and its murderous security agencies. There is ample evidence of the Nigerian government’s repression of peaceful IPOB members.
“The Nigerian government and its security agencies should stop blackmailing IPOB. Our non-violent approach should not be mistaken for weakness. It is our respect for international laws governing self-determination, not a sign of weakness,” he said.
