The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Thursday, vehemently denied any association with Simon Ekpa’s Finland-based group, dismissing claims by Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah as “cheap propaganda”.
The governor had alleged that police neutralized 27 kidnapping gangs linked to Ekpa’s group, which IPOB insists is not affiliated with them.
In a statement, IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful described the claims as “false” and “fallacious”, emphasizing that Ekpa’s autopilot group and the 27 kidnapping gangs are not members of IPOB. Powerful questioned why the police and Enugu State government would associate these criminals with IPOB, suggesting malicious intent.
IPOB maintained its distance from Ekpa’s group and condemned what it said was the governor’s attempts to link them to criminal activities. The group asserted its commitment to peaceful advocacy for Biafran independence, dissociating itself from any involvement in kidnapping or other criminal acts.
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“The global family of IPOB wishes to debunk the fabricated and fallacious news peddled by the Enugu State governor’s media office, where they claim that the Nigerian Police neutralised 27 kidnapping gangs of ESN members loyal to the Finland-based group at various locations in Enugu State.
“The claim is not only false but also a cheap propaganda against IPOB and ESN. According to the report, the Enugu State governor’s media office claimed that the Nigerian Police neutralised 27 criminals and kidnappers within two weeks at various locations in the state.
“The Nigerian Police and Enugu State government said that some of the neutralised criminals are pro-Biafra agitators loyal to the Finland-based double agent.
“Then why did they turn around and associate these criminals with the noble IPOB family? In the usual malicious intent, the police claimed that the so-called neutralised criminals were ESN operatives loyal to autopilot IPOB,” the statement read.
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