By Pamela Eboh
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have debunked what it described as a fallacious and fabricated claim by the Nigerian Police, Abakiliki Command that it engaged the force in a gun battle when IPOB Ishinwke came to their station.
IPOB in a statement signed by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful called on the public to ignore the false claims by the Nigerian Police, saying that IPOB-ESN did not engage the police in any gun battle.
It also said that no ESN Operative was killed by the Nigerian Police in Ebonyi State.
The statement partly read, “IPOB is a disciplined non-violent movement. On the other hand, ESN Operatives are armed vigilante doing great job of securing Biafran farms and farmers from marauding Fulani terrorists.
“ESN Operatives do not engage neither the Nigerian Army nor the Police and never civilians except the Fulani terrorists masquerading as Herdsmen. But if the Nigerian Army and Police dare attack ESN unprovoked, they will carry their men back in body bags. The Nigerian Army and Police can do all their yeye blackmail and propaganda, but they will not dare to invade or attack ESN without counting their losses.
“The Nigerian government and police created the same criminals that they arranged and planned attacks with while the Nigerian Army and Police also maliciously and dubiously tagged the crimes on IPOB and ESN. The Nigerian Security Agencies knew the criminals, and they refused to call them by their names because they were all working together against IPOB-ESN and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“The recruited criminal Agents have even publicly disassociated themselves from IPOB when they could no longer stand the pressure from IPOB. Nevertheless, the Nigerian Security Agencies keep associating their sponsored activities to ESN.
“The lies that the Nigerian Security Agencies continued to peddle against IPOB will continue to erode their leftover integrity. The Nigerian government and her lawless Security Agencies should leave IPOB and ESN alone and stop blackmailing us with their recruited criminals in the South East Region.
“IPOB remains a non-violent organization struggling to restore Biafra sovereignty and independence. The Nigerian government has done everything to provoke us into violence, but we have maintained our cool for the appointed time.
“That IPOB is peaceful at this moment is not a guarantee that we shall remain peaceful forever if we are continuously provoked.
“Biafra freedom is a child of necessity for the survival of the Igbo race. The petty propaganda from the Nigeria government and her lawless security agencies will not stop the quest for Biafra freedom.
This Biafra agitation championed by IPOB, led by Mazi Nnamdi KANU, will never succumb to intimidation, imprisonment, propaganda, blackmail or mass murder from the notorious Nigerian Security Agencies.
“Nigerian Police Command in Abakiliki should stop linking IPOB to the activities of their sponsored criminals. Also, the Nigerian Police should stop killing innocent civilians and tagging them ESN. If the Nigeria Police wants to test the wrath of ESN, they should go into the bush and attack them. The objective of ESN is to dislodge Fulani terrorists nicknamed herdsmen in our land not to engage the Nigeria Security Forces.”
