The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Saturday alleged that Southeast governors, the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, those it branded treacherous traditional rulers and President Generals of some communities, “are secretly compiling names of suspected IPOB members and ESN operatives across Biafraland.”
The aim, the group said in a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, was to weaken IPOB and ESN’s effort to flush those it called terrorist herdsmen out of the Southeast.
He said the Igbo leaders “have bargained with Nigeria’s security agencies to abduct anybody suspected to be IPOB member or supporter.”
He added: “IPOB intelligence unit gathered that these enemies within and without have perfected arrangements to abduct our people and put them incommunicado in the security dungeons in unknown locations.”
He warned such people to be “careful because they must answer for their actions.”
He said: “The South-Eastern governors in collaboration with all the traditional rulers in the zone and the PGs of all the communities in the zone are compiling names of suspected IPOB members in their respective communities to hand over to Nigeria security agencies for possible execution. The arrangement has been perfected to help Nigeria Police and Army to quickly pick anybody suspected to be IPOB member and ESN operatives in the zone.
“Our intelligence further revealed that they took this decision to launch this joint military operation to quench and permanently silence what they termed as IPOB and ESN menace in the zone. It is unfortunate that our so called leaders could not see or observe how terrorist herdsmen were raping and murdering our mothers, wives and sisters in the farms across the Biafra territory.
“We have severally explained that ESN has nothing to do with the unknown gunmen responsible for the attacks in South East. We wonder why government will continue to associate us with that group without investigations.
“The Nigeria Government and her partners in crime must understand that IPOB cannot be decimated no matter what they do. The unknown gunmen are not ESN or IPOB.
“The federal government of Nigeria which still sponsors killer terrorists herdsmen terrorising citizens in the zone cannot deny sponsoring the so-called unknown gunmen.
“If South East governors do not stop this plan against their people, IPOB will make the zone too hot for them.
“We expect all traditional rulers and P/G’s in the South East communities to retrace their steps before it gets too late. The land will also rise against them if they allow this to happen!
“Any IPOB member or ESN operative killed shall be avenged!”
