By Chimaobi Nwaiwu
NNEWI——– THE Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has rejected what it called “President Bola Tinubu’s hate-filled independence speech” linking it with Boko Haram.
The pro-Biafra group accused Tinubu of recklessly and falsely linking IPOB with Boko Haram, whilst in the same breadth exonerating ISWAP, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Lakaruwa.
A statement by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, titled IPOB rejects Tinubu’s hate-filled independence day speech, said that the President’s deliberate refusal to mention ISWAP, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Lakaruwa and focusing only on Boko Haram and IPOB, effectively signalled that the groups are not terrorist groups.
IPOB statement read, “The attention of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, under the command and leadership of our great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been drawn to the divisive and hateful Independence Day address delivered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in which he recklessly and falsely lumped IPOB with Boko Haram, whilst in the same breadth exonerating ISWAP, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Lakaruwa.
“Tinubu’s deliberate not mentioning ISWAP, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Lakaruwa and focusing only on Boko Haram and IPOB, effectively signalled the that they are not terrorist groups.
“This deliberate falsehood cannot stand unchallenged. IPOB is a peaceful, globally recognized movement pursuing self-determination through nonviolent means.
“Not a single shred of verifiable evidence has ever been presented in any court of law linking IPOB or our leader to terrorism, kidnapping, or killings. The Federal High Court in Abuja as far back as March 2017 ruled unequivocally that IPOB is not a terrorist organization. That subsisting judgment has never been vacated.
“Tinubu, a man supposedly educated in the United States, knows very well that an ex parte order cannot proscribe a mass movement of millions of people without adversarial hearing. That ‘proscription’ was nothing but a worthless piece of paper used by successive regimes to unleash mayhem, massacres, and extrajudicial killings upon unarmed Biafrans.
“Tinubu showed high level of hypocrisy in speech. It is hypocritical and insulting for Tinubu to demonize IPOB while exonerating Fulani killer herdsmen who are daily terrorizing citizens from Kwara to Plateau, from Benue to Enugu.
“When entire communities are wiped out, his government calls it ‘farmer-herder clashes.’ Yet, when unarmed Igbo youths protest peacefully, they are branded terrorists. This double standard exposes Tinubu’s deep-seated prejudice against the Igbo race.
“As Tinubu is fixated with IPOB, at the behest of the British and Igbo quislings that pass as politicians in Igbo land, Kwara State has been overrun by the real terrorists from Janjaweed territories.
“We want to pass this message to the toothless Igbo political class. Tinubu dares to insult IPOB and by extension Ndigbo because he knows that the so-called Igbo political class are weak, spineless errand boys of Abuja Aso Rock. The Efulefus without conscience.
“In his Independence day speech, Tinubu did not only indict IPOB; he indirectly indicted the shameless politicians who invited him into Igboland to dance on the graves of their own people. They should know that history will not absolve them.
“We want to make IPOB’s position known to all. We state categorically that IPOB is not Boko Haram, not ISWAP, not Al-Qaeda. We are a people struggling for our survival in the face of state-sponsored genocide. Our leader is still being held illegally in DSS dungeon despite multiple court rulings ordering his release. If Tinubu truly believes in justice, let him obey the courts instead of propagating lies.
“The world must take note: IPOB rejects and condemns Tinubu’s hate speech. His attempt to criminalize an entire nation of Igbo people through the backdoor of state propaganda will fail. The struggle for Biafra’s liberation is a just cause rooted in truth, justice, and international law. No amount of blackmail will erase that.”
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