The Presidency has insisted that the long-debated claim of Christian genocide in Nigeria was falsely originated by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
A report published earlier this month by The New York Times had accused Emeka Umeagbalasi, a trader and leader of an Onitsha-based NGO, Intersociety, of masterminding the genocide claim that prompted the action of U.S. President Donald Trump and some lawmakers.
Reacting to the report, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, said the facts are beginning to emerge.
In a statement on his official X handle yesterday, Bwala recalled a series of interviews where he declared that IPOB was behind the narrative.
Meanwhile, a faction of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, warned The New York Times, a reputable media organisation, not to allow itself to be manipulated into disseminating unsubstantiated and potentially inflammatory reports, saying that such reports can have devastating consequences and unrest within Nigeria.
The Ohanaeze faction was reacting to a publication by The New York Times that Igbo were instrumental in providing information to the United States of America (U.S.A) that led to the bombing against ISIS elements in Sokoto, noting that such reports, like the one in question, can have devastating consequences, fostering ethnic division and unrest within Nigeria.
In a statement in Abakaliki, the Deputy President General of the group, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, maintained that the Igbo are not involved in any capacity as intelligence providers or participants in the U.S. efforts against terrorist networks, adding that such a report can incite tribal animosity and suspicion against the Igbo population, particularly those residing in Northern Nigeria.
He made it very clear that the Igbo are not the originators or primary proponents of the narrative of Christian persecution in Nigeria, despite the undeniable presence of Igbo casualties within such incidents, demanding an unreserved apology for the publication of this deliberately misleading and potentially dangerous article, urging the media organisation to retract the publication.
While commending the ongoing partnership and collaboration between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Federal Government in combating terrorism, he emphatically disavowed any implication that Igbo individuals were instrumental in providing information that led to the bombing, rejecting attempts to unfairly implicate the Igbo in these endeavours.
Isiguzoro further stated that the group’s concerns are deeply rooted in historical precedent and the recent New York Times article, which attempts to portray an Igbo individual, purportedly a “screwdriver seller” from Onitsha, as a key source of intelligence for the U.S. airstrikes, mirrors the insidious propaganda campaign that fuelled ethnic tensions leading up to the tragic events of 1966.
The statement reads: “The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, driven by its unwavering commitment to truth and the welfare of Ndigbo, issues this decisive statement in response to recent publications by the United States-based media outlet, The New York Times, and we are compelled to address the inherent falsehoods and potentially incendiary nature of their reporting, particularly as it relates to the Igbo people.
“Ohanaeze unequivocally states that the Igbo are not, nor have they ever been, involved in any capacity as intelligence providers or participants in the United States’ efforts against terrorist networks in Nigeria, including the recent strikes against ISIS elements in Sokoto”.
