From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) has denied involvement in the razing of Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) offices as well as other crimes levelled against it.
Spokesperson of IPOB, Emma Powerful, in a statement, yesterday, said the allegations were meant to disparage and blackmail the group. He said blackmail would not make the group lose focus on its agitation.
Powerful also denied allegations about the purported bomb factory owned by the group and killing of politicians in the South East. He claimed they were political moves aimed at ruining Peter Obi’s chances in the 2023 presidential election.
“We know that they want to rig the elections in the South East against Peter Obi and blame it on IPOB and ESN. They burn markets and different properties of our people and blame it on IPOB. They declared a five-day ignored sit-at-home and killed our people and even killed a pregnant mother using IPOB and ESN identity.
“All these activities were sponsored by Fulani terrorists and that’s why there haven’t been any arrest or prosecution of the perpetrators. They target to blackmail IPOB locally and internationally. These criminals were groomed to ensure they demonise IPOB and ESN.”
He said Mazi Nnamdi Kanu established ESN to protect people of the South East after countless number of communities were invaded and many people murdered without mercy by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
“As they could not defeat IPOB with imported terrorists, they recruited internal criminals and cultists to infiltrate IPOB and ESN, yet the IPOB leadership decoded and exposed their agents. They thought that kidnapping Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and sponsoring internal enemies would weaken the struggle, but they forgot that the foundation of IPOB was built on solid rock not on sand.
“Today, our people and the foreign intelligence community know the truth that IPOB is a non-violent movement and also that ESN are volunteer vigilantes protecting our people from both sponsored internal enemies as well as imported ones.”
Powerful said IPOB has no interest in the 2023 Nigeria election.
“We are also not responsible for any attacks on their political rallies or destruction of political paraphernalia. These criminals and cultists recruited by the Federal Government and its compromised security agencies have caused a lot of harm to our people and our land. We promise that they will regret their actions in due time.
“As the 2023 election is fast approaching, anybody or group attacking political campaigns or destroying political materials in Biafraland should not be associated with IPOB. Those persons should be treated as common criminals,” he said.