On Sunday, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call security agencies, which it claimed were killing pro-Biafra agitators to order.
The group further threatened to avenge the death of any of its member killed by the country’s security agencies henceforth.
In a statement issued in Awka, Anambra State, by the Media and Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Emma Powerful, IPOB said the era of killing its members without provocation had gone.
The statement read partly, “Many have paid the supreme sacrifice at Igweocha, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Aba in Abia State, Nkpor and Onitsha in Anambra State, which Biafra and posterity will never forget. We shall honour all those that fell on this long and painful march to freedom.
“Having said this, we will not hesitate to invoke the right to self defence, should the government of Nigeria attempt to kill even one peaceful IPOB protester.
“Biafrans are naturally, law-abiding and peaceful people without the history of conquest like any other major ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.
“The European Union and and other internationally-recognised institutions in the world have taken time to study IPOB’s grievances and have come to the conclusion that the Nigerian government, headed by Muhamadu Buhari, is hell-bent on annihilating the people of Biafra.
“IPOB worldwide and its leadership are pleased with every effort people are making towards the restoration of the Biafra nation. We are highly committed to making sure Biafra comes under the command of our ordained leader and prophet, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
“We wish to clarify that there will be no negotiation talks until our leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and other members detained illegally are released unconditionally as two courts of competent jurisdiction have ruled in Abuja,” the statement said.
Just few days ago, the group asked the Federal Government to set up a panel of enquiry over the alleged killing of pro-Biafra activists in Onitsha and Aba earlier this year.
