By Pamela Eboh
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has said that the June 27, 2024 press release from the Nigeria Defence Headquarters confirming the killing of hundreds of innocent Biafrans tagged as IPOB-ESN in Abia State by the Nigerian Army has vindicated the group.
This was contained in a statement by IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful and made available to journalists in Awka on Monday.
The statement read in part, “The recent statement from Nigeria defense headquarters confirmed and vindicated IPOB’s press releases previously, which said that the Nigerian government and its security agencies slaughtered innocent citizens of the South East Region without provocations
“It is important we alert the public that the Nigerian Defence Headquarters Spokesperson, Edward Buba confessed that the Nigerian Army killed over 180 and arrested over 254 Igbos in Abia State between April to June of 2024 under the code name “operation UDO-KA” according to the publication by People’s Gazett Newspaper.
“The casualty figure, as claimed by the Defense Headquarters, is much less than the actual number of people killed and abducted in Abia State over the period in question.
“This confession from the Defence Headquarters through Edward Buba confirmed the alarm that IPOB raised that the Nigerian military killed hundreds of Biafrans secretly and abducted many and sent them into secret locations in reprisal for the false flag operation the military masterminded that led to the killing of some Igbo soldiers on duty at the marked checkpoint in Aba during May 30th, Biafra Heroes Day.
“The military were responsible for the murder of the Igbo soldiers but they turned around to blackmail IPOB without any investigation. After the false flag operations by the military, they went on a killing spree of innocent Biafrans in Abia State. Most of the killings and abductions happened in remote villages in the cover of night. When they killed they evacuate the dead bodies to avoid being blamed.
“To set the record straight, the majority of the people killed or arrested by the Nigerian Army were innocent Biafran youths. Fortunately, no member of ESN vigilantee was among the people killed or arrested. However, few of the victims of the military killings and abductions were unarmed, non-violent IPOB members and innocent Igbo civilian members.
“IPOB leadership knows the number of IPOB members that the Nigerian military have abducted or killed. IPOB members are not violent and not terrorists as the Nigerian government claims. The worst of it is that those they tagged IPOB members were not IPOB members at all but ordinary members of Biafra society.
“]The Nigerian Army are the ones recruiting the so-called repentant Boko Haram terrorists who were deployed to the South East Region to kill the people without mercy. The murderous terrorists have killed and abducted over 5,000 innocent Igbos from January 2023 to June 2024.
“In many years of blackmailing IPOB, no IPOB member at home or in diaspora has ever been convicted of any crime, let alone that of terrorism.
IPOB called on the International Community, United Nations Human Right Commission, Amnesty International, Intersociety, Human Right Watch, European Union, African Union, BRICKS Federation, Britain and The United State to investigate the Nigerian government and her Security Agencies role in the genocide against Igbo ethnic group.
According to the group, Ndigbo have become endangered species that are killed at will through the “murderous security agencies.
It further accused the Nigerian Army of murdering over 3200 innocent people in Igboland in the disguise of going after IPOB members who were innocent of all the accusations from the Nigerian government, noting that not all Igbo persons are IPOB members.
The statement added, “IPOB members are not terrorists and have never been involved in any terrorist activities in Nigeria or outside of Nigeria. The only crime that IPOB members committed against the Nigerian government is our peaceful demand for a referendum date for Biafrans to decide their fate whether to continue in “One” Nigeria or exit to form a new nation of Biafra.
“The self-determination struggle championed by IPOB led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the Directorate of State State of the Indigenous People of Biafra is in line with UN laws and African Charter, which Nigeria is signatory to.
“The venomous hatred that the Nigerian government visits on the non-violent freedom movement by IPOB is just an extension of the same ethnic hatred against Ndigbo in Nigeria.
“This recent statement from the Nigeria Defense Headquarters has exposed them. The Nigerian Army has killed more than 1000 innocent Biafrans in Abia State alone and over 3200 in the entire South East from April to June 2024.
“The terrorists and bandits are on rampage in the Northern Regions of Nigeria, killing and kidnapping people, but the Nigerian Army is feigning ignorance. Instead of going after the terrorists in the North, they are going from village to village, harassing innocent Igbos.
“The Nigerian Army has never massacred civilians in the North in the name of retaliating against the killing of their soldiers, which is a regular occurrence in the North. Nigeria’s government has two laws operational in “one” Nigeria. Vicious laws for the Ndigbos and friendly laws for the rest of their Nigerians.
“The International Community should investigate the murderous actions of the Nigeria Defense apparatus. They should be questioned about the whereabouts of hundreds of unarmed Biafra civilians they abducted from their homes and forcefully disappeared. The Nigerian Army should release the dead bodies of Biafrans they massacred in their respective detention facilities across the country.
“Also, they should release numerous Biafrans they abducted and dumped in various detention facilities in Nigeria.
