AWKA – The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said that contrary to some reports none of its members was arrested in Ebonyi State.
Comrade Emma Powerful, the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, who state this on Saturday, said the purported mass arrest of supposed members of IPOB in Ebonyi State labeled as Biafrans planning an anniversary, was not true.
According to him, IPOB had not been in the habit of celebrating anniversary since it began.
Instead, it continued, “Attempt by Governor Dave Umahi to prove to his Fulani masters that he is anti-Biafra and IPOB has led him to round-up and illegally lock up land owners in Ebonyi State under the pretext of fighting Biafra agitators but of which the true intention is to pave the way for Fulani herdsmen to take over community lands for their RUGA settlement in the state.”
The group denied that its members were arrested, saying, “We the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and it’s leadership worldwide wish to categorically state that those Dave Umahi claim to have arrested in Ebonyi are not IPOB family members because our movement is not in the habit of celebrating any anniversary either in Biafraland or in the diaspora, since the inception of this great movement.
“It came to us as a surprise to hear the media blast about purported arrest of IPOB family members when we had no event in Ebonyi State that would necessitate the gathering of people on a large scale.
“Dave Umahi and his Fulani overlords in the Police and Army in Abakiliki have instead engaged in land grabbing arrest of innocent citizens, especially indigenes of Amasri in Afikpo local government area of Ebonyi State who were merely strategising on how to protect their land from Fulani terror herdsmen.
“By tagging these villagers IPOB, Dave Umahi sought to deflect attention from this dastardly act of illicit land grabbing for RUGA going on in Ebonyi State. IPOB do not host events in the bushes or forests, rather we honour our heroes with a general strike on designated days of the year.”
“This blatant lie and misinformation sold to the media that IPOB members were arrested in Ebonyi is simply a lie designed to mask the horrors of RUGA implementation by stealth going on in Ebonyi State and to deflect attention away from secret ethnic cleansing of villages to pave way for Fulani settlements in Ebonyi,” it added.
The post IPOB Denies Arrest Of Its Members In Ebonyi appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Source: Independent
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