The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has strongly condemned the Nigerian Army’s recent actions in Ogbaru, Anambra State, where innocent villagers were murdered, doused with inflammable substances, and set ablaze.
In a scathing press statement released on Saturday ,IPOB described the act as “the lowest of the lowest” and a stark reminder of the military’s descent into terrorism.
According to IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, the Nigerian military’s invasion of Ogbaru communities, resulting in the burning of houses, murder, and burning of bodies, is a classic modus operandi of terror groups. IPOB asserts that the Nigerian Army’s actions are nothing short of state-sponsored terrorism, aimed at provoking Biafrans into confrontation.
The group has called for an immediate investigation into the Nigerian Army’s motives and actions, urging human rights organizations, including Amnesty International Nigeria, Intersociety, and the United Nations Human Right Council, to seek answers and bring the perpetrators to justice.
IPOB reiterates its demand for a peaceful referendum, warning that continued provocation by the Nigerian government and its security agencies will lead to reciprocal action. The group emphasizes that Biafrans will not be pushed to the wall without fighting back, and that the consequences of such actions will be severe.
The Anambra State Governor has been urged to conduct an investigation into the incident, and IPOB has vowed to protect Biafran land from becoming a theater of war.
The statement reads in full…
IPOB CALLS FOR INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE BARBARIC MURDER AND BURNING OF MURDERED VICTIMS IN OGBARU BY THE NIGERIAN ARMY-IPOB
The Directorate of State of the Indigenous People of Biafra ( DOS) is shocked by the new level of barbarism of the Nigerian Army in Biafraland. This barbaric and inhumane actions of the Nigerian Army in Ogbaru LGA of Anambra State, in which they murdered innocent villagers, poured inflammable substance on them and set them ablaze is the low of the lowest. This is the trademark of terror groups and terrorists. It presuposes, therefore, that the Nigerian army has degenated into a bunch of terrorists in army uniform.
The Nigerian military invaded some communities in Ogbaru, burnt down some houses, murdered and burnt the bodies of some innocent, peaceful civilians without provocation. This is a classic modus operandi of terror groups. The Nigerian soldiers not being satisfied with murdering some innocent villagers went ahead to pour petrol on the lifeless bodies of their slaughtered victims and set them ablaze. This terroristic and barbaric action of the Nigerian soldiers is unacceptable. The activities of Nigerian soldiers against innocent Biafrans are nothing short of terrorism. The Nigerian Army is one of the State sponsored terrorists, wearing official uniforms sent down to Biafraland to commit unimaginable acts of state sponsored terror against Ndigbo and Biafrans in general. The similar unprovoked genocide against Biafrans that culminated into the first civil war is rearing its ugly head again. The earlier that the Nigeria government organized a referendum for Biafrans to exit Nigeria in peace, the better, in order to avoid the repeat of the past. As Biafrans are being pushed to the wall, they will be left with no choice but to fight back. The Nigerian government and her murderous Security Forces should understand that nobody has a monopoly of violence.
The consistent violation of the human rights of Biafrans does not matter to the international community, but when the victims decide to defend themselves, the world media will present the victim as an aggressor. The Nigerian government must, as a matter of urgency, be called to order and compelled to withdraw its army of terrorists from Biafran villages and towns. The Nigerian government keeps provoking Biafrans, and we must reciprocate with the language they will understand if they continue murdering Biafrans. We have repeatedly told the Nigerian government that we want a peaceful referendum, not a confrontation. But if the Nigeria government and her murderous Security Agencies have chosen the part they are threading by pushing us to the wall, they should understand that both Nigerians and Biafrans shall bleed, and in the end, Biafra shall come. This confrontation that the Nigerian government and its security agencies want to indulge in will never be the same as the one of 1967-1970. As the Nigerian government’s imported terrorists and bandits are on rampage in the Northern region of Nigeria without military resistance, the Nigerian Army is in the Eastern Region terrorizing the innocent civilians and citizens. The Nigerian Army in the East and the terrorists in the North are on the same mission to make Nigeria unsafe and ungovernable. But IPOB will not allow them to turn Biafra land into a theatre of war.
The Directorate of State calls on the Anambra State Governor to conduct an investigation into the Nigerian Army’s motive of killing innocent Biafran civilians and burning their lifeless bodies with petrol.
Human rights organisations, particularly the Amnesty International Nigeria, the Intersociety, United Nations Human Right Council, and the foreign missions in Nigeria, should seek answers into the barbaric actions of the Nigerian Army. The barbaric murder and burning of the lifeless bodies of innocent Ogbaru people by the Nigerian Army must be investigated, and the barbarians and the terrorists within the Nigerian military that carried out the dastardly act brought to justice.
COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL, MEDIA, A
ND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR IPOB.
