The self-determination group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has cautioned traditional rulers against collecting money from those “masquerading as herdsmen and allowing them into spaces to operate freely in our communities.”
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In a statement issued my its media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB warned those it described as “compromised traditional rulers across ‘Biafraland'” to be very careful when it comes to taking actions, wittingly or unwittingly, that tend to jeopardize the overall interest of the land and people of Igboland, stating that the deleterious activities of terrorists from other climes who have constituted themselves into gangs of kidnappers and molesters of women while masquerading as herdsmen bear out the need to be circumspect about giving them the space to operate freely in ‘Biafraland’ without checks.
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According to the statement by Powerful, it was in the course of interrogation of some terror suspects that IPOB/ESN was told by the ‘herdsmen’ themselves that they usually pay money to the traditional leaders of any community before venturing into such a community to graze their cattle, often operating under that guise to commit the crimes some of them have been associated with in a number of Igbo communities.
“We are astonished that our traditional leaders will be thwarting the plans to make our land safe. If a traditional ruler doesn’t accept what IPOB-ESN is doing to safeguard Igboland, they will be regarded as sabotaging our efforts to restore Biafra,” the group said.
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“If you know that you are a traditional ruler in Igboland who has made a deal or entered into a business contract to allocate land for Fulani settlement, you better stop it now and know that you are endangering lives, including your own. Know that if we catch you, you will regret your actions against our land. From this moment, IPOB-ESN will be monitoring all the traditional leaders in ‘Biafraland’.Â
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“We are not begging you to stop…IPOB-ESN operatives are watching all nooks and crannies of Biafra Land because our traditional rulers have failed the people of Biafra like the Southeast politicians did. We must overcome their sabotage. They can use any strategy to blackmail IPOB or try to stop ESN from making headway, but God Almighty Chukwu Okike Abiama sanctioned that we must come and take over, and restore Biafra.”
