The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said none of its members was arrested with AK-47 rifles by the police in Delta state.
IPOB’s Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, was reacting to a report that the police in Delta arrested nine suspected members of the outlawed group on Wednesday.
In a statement on Thursday, the IPOB spokesman said those arrested were not members of the group. He noted that the group remains a peaceful movement seeking to restore Biafra without violence or war.
He said: “It has come to the notice of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, though not by surprise, claims by the Nigeria Police that some persons allegedly arrested with AK-47 rifles in Delta State are IPOB members.
“We are not interested in trying to prove our innocence because we already know the plans of the Nigerian security agencies and their bitterness towards us.
“However, we wish to put the record straight for the sake of the gullible, and perhaps innocent Biafrans that the security agents want to hang or waste unjustifiably by branding them IPOB members.
“The fact remains that our non-violent philosophy in our bid to restore the Biafra Republic has not changed, and any time that position is changed, we shall make it known to everyone.
“Our Leader, Nnamdi Kanu has made it clear countless times that Biafra will be actualized without firing a shot and this has not changed.
“IPOB remains a peaceful movement seeking to restore Biafra without violence. If at all any person (s) were arrested with an AK-47 in Delta State, those who arrested them should try to discover their real identities.
“No IPOB family member carries arms for any reason. Our global record speaks for us. IPOB has never been associated with violence or arms struggle anywhere in the world.
“It’s a proven and incontrovertible fact that we are not violent despite being wrongly tagged a terrorist organization by the Nigeria Government to stop us.
”Therefore, we would like to advise Nigeria Security agencies to stop making jest of themselves by trying to associate IPOB with violence. They should try other tactics because this one can never fly.
“If we need to fight with guns and bullets we know where to go for it and get the quantity we need But we do not need arms and ammunition to achieve Biafra.
“Nigeria has already been dismantled through the consistent expositions of our great Leader.
“It’s very shameful that instead of fishing out the killer Fulani herdsmen slaughtering Biafrans in their homes and farms with AK47, the Nigerian Security agencies are rather looking for ways to present the innocent people as killers.
“For the last time, we wish to restate that IPOB is a peaceful movement and those arrested in Delta with guns are not our members.
”Again, the suspects should not be tagged IPOB members just to prove a non-existent point.
“The world is watching. And all the atrocities leveled against innocent Biafrans will one day be accounted for.”
