SAN FRANCISCO, August 26, (THEWILL) – The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has declared total support for the plan by the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, to break away from Nigeria on October 1, reiterating that it has no working relationship with the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND.
IPOB, in a statement issued on Friday by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, explained that its support for the Avengers is borne out of the similarity in the philosophy of both groups.
The statement reads, “We have nothing to do with MEND, but our philosophy aligns with that of Niger Delta Avengers who bravely called for the release of our leader and has maintained it till date. Avengers and IPOB are one in pursuit of freedom for all the peoples of Biafra. IPOB is in total support of the proposed independence declaration proposed by Avengers on the 1st of October.
“IPOB recognises the efforts of the reformed MASSOB as they have publicly stated that they are no longer working with the now discredited leadership of BIM and former MASSOB. As long as they maintain this stance and do not engage in activities capable of undermining the pursuit for freedom, we shall continue to acknowledge their efforts. Some so-called Igbo leaders are mere Hausa Fulani stooges and will kill their own children if the North demands it. Thankfully, we still have honorable Igbo men left.”
While stressing that the continued detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, will not affect the group’s activities, IPOB stated that it “is not in the business of soft-pedalling like previous groups that may have given the impression they were campaigning for our freedom when all they were after was settlement. At the end of this battle for freedom, the world will know that there are those who cannot be bought nor compromised like Nnamdi Kanu and the IPOB that he leads.
“We want, first and foremost, the release of our leader and other detained members of IPOB after which he would direct us on how to negotiate terms of reference for a referendum which we launched a while back. Nobody will be forced or coerced. We want to build a model society based on the consent of the people not one imposed by a few group of people.”
Powerful, in explaining why two lawyers who spoke on behalf of the group were sacked, said: “The lawyers spoke out of turn and have been duly sanctioned. We suspect that some elements within the executive of Ohaneze Ndigbo and Governor Rochas Okorocha were behind it. IPOB under instruction from our leader has only three official outlets through which its mind or views can be expressed and these are first his wife, IPOB spokespersons and announcement on Radio Biafra.
“Apart from these three, no one can claim to represent or speak the mind of our leader. Individuals are allowed to speak their minds but they cannot say they are doing so for our leader without his explicit consent,” the statement added.
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