The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has described as “falsehood and concocted propaganda” the report by the Nigerian army of killing 13 IPOB members in Enugu State, saying that the army has become a fear-mongering institution that “planned to use this fake news of killing 13 IPOB members to scare away Ndigbo from returning and enjoying their Christmas in their respective homes in the South East Region.”
“These scare tactics by the Nigeria government and its compromised military will not work,” the self-determination group said.
Restating their position that the “Nigerian government and its military love to use the name of the peaceful and noble family of the IPOB movement and ESN to deceive the general public and international community into believing that they are working on insecurity in our territory,” IPOB alleged that, in reality, the “Nigerian army (at least) in the South East is not curtailing insecurity (but ), instead, is fueling it to justify the ‘genocide’ they committed and have continued to commit against Ndigbo.”
“We are happy that a reputable Civil Society Organization like INTERSOCIETY has compiled and published the murderous activities of the Nigerian Army in the South East. Nigerian Army has made uncountable efforts to destabilize, demonise, and criminalize IPOB and ESN before Ndigbo and the international community. The more they try, the more they fail because IPOB is not involved in the insurgency and insecurity, including criminal activities, going on in the South East region,” the group stressed in a statement issued on Wednesday – today, December 25 – by its media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful.
The group further alleged that the army, police and Secret Service “are among the state actors destabilizing the South East in the name of fighting insecurity,” adding that “these notorious security forces are the insecurity that the people experience themselves.”
“What is the beef of the Nigerian government and her ‘murderous’ military against unarmed and non-violent movement like IPOB? The ethnically bigoted government of Nigeria proscribed IPOB and labeled IPOB a terrorist organization in Nigeria but failed to convince the international community to label IPOB a terror organisation as well,” the self-determination group chided.
“We all knew IPOB as the leader of a non-violent self-determination struggle to restore Biafra. The same self-determination is being pursued by the Oduduwa agitators and Hausa agitators respectively but, who are not considered as terrorists by the same federal government of Nigeria. Since the 1945, Biafrans have always been considered enemies in Nigeria. Why then is the Nigerian State afraid of the Igbos exiting the unholy and unworkable union called Nigeria? Nigeria can’t keep humiliating, intimidating, killing, and illegally abducting Ndigbo out of their ethnic hatred for Biafran citizenry and, at the same time, refuse to let them leave
from that bloody nation. Is Nigeria a witch?”
The pro-Biafra group further accused the federal government and what it described as “her murderous military”, of colluding with terrorists allegedly “spawned by a section of the country” to overrun Biafra Land.
“That is why we allege that the Nigerian army’s target is to destroy IPOB and ESN, who are the only formidable obstacle to their ‘Fulanization’ agenda. IPOB formed ESN to curtail the terrorists’ activities of the Fulanis. On the other hand, the Nigerian government deployed the Nigerian Army under the Operation UDO-KA to attack Ndigbo claiming it’s ESN members who were up against Fulani terrorists in our bushes and farmlands, that they are attacking. That is why we insist that the Nigerian Army and Fulani terrorists are working in cahoots with each other,” IPOB said.
“Recently, on the international front, Niger Republic accused the Nigerian government and its military of working together with the so-called new terrorist group “Lukuwana terrorists” to destabilize their country by sabotaging their oil pipeline in Benin Republic. (It means that) the Nigerian government and its ‘murderous military’ have extended their destabilization activities to the neighboring countries. This ought to be a serious concern to the international community.
“The Nigerian military spokesman must stop linking IPOB to their sponsored criminal activities going on in the South East Region with their unfounded media blackmail. The claims by the military spokesperson of killing 13 IPOB members are not only false but illusory. The military claimed to have killed 13 IPOB members but failed to substantiate their claims. The news headline is not only deceitful but unrelated to the main article.
“IPOB will equally use this opportunity to call on the Nigerian media to become circumspect and practice investigative journalism in their reportage. The Nigerian Army’s claim of killing 13 IPOB members should not be reported without proper investigation. The media reporting the claim by the army of killing of 13 unarmed IPOB civilians or ESN operatives, (assuming that it is true) should not have been reported unceremoniously because the life of every IPOB person is precious. Unarmed IPOB members and ESN operatives are not terrorists or criminals who should be killed even though the Nigerian government decided to demonize us for defending our people.
“Secondly, IPOB family members and ESN Operatives are all intact. There is no loss of IPOB family members or ESN operatives as claimed by the Nigerian Army. As long as IPOB and the international community are concerned, IPOB members are non-violent self- determination movement. On the other hand, ESN are disciplined armed vigilantes that are mandated to dislodge Fulani terrorist and kidnappers masquerading as herdsmen in the South East forests and bushes. IPOB will not retreat or surrender in defending our people or in restoring our fatherland – Biafra Nation.”
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