The Indigenous Individuals of Biafra, IPOB, has challenged former Abia State Governor and Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, to current proof backing his latest feedback alleging that the group and its safety arm killed 30,000 folks within the South-East.
The group issued the decision on Saturday by way of its spokesperson, Comrade Emma Highly effective, insisting that the senator should present clear proof to help the weighty accusation or apologise to the whole area for what it described as a politically-motivated smear.
Within the assertion, IPOB repeated its demand for “the proof of the 30,000 people killed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB,” stressing that such accusations quantity to felony blackmail and can’t be brushed apart as political rhetoric.
The group mentioned a declare of mass killings “shouldn’t be merely a political situation,” noting that its members and the general public deserve readability.
IPOB additionally used the chance to situation a number of allegations towards Senator Kalu. The group accused him of long-standing political manipulation in Abia, mismanagement of public funds, and enabling felony networks throughout his tenure as governor.
In keeping with the assertion, the previous governor allegedly “jeopardised the protection of Abia and Enugu States” by allowing harmful actors to take management of the Lokpanta market alongside the Enugu–Port Harcourt expressway.
IPOB claimed this transfer was accomplished “in trade for political advantages,” and contributed to the wave of kidnappings and violent assaults that plagued the Enugu–Aba axis for years.
The group additional accused Kalu of working a decent circle of political beneficiaries, alleging that his model of governance inspired godfatherism and left behind a burden that successive administrations needed to take care of.
IPOB argued that most of the infrastructural challenges witnessed earlier than the approaching of Governor Alex Otti have been direct penalties of that legacy.
As well as, IPOB referenced previous controversies surrounding the Bakassi Vigilante Group, claiming that Senator Kalu manipulated the group for political functions shortly after assuming workplace in 1999.
The organisation maintained that the vigilante group existed earlier than his administration however alleged that he used it as a device towards perceived enemies.
Additionally they talked about an unverified declare in regards to the killing of 1 Ezeji from Mbaise in Umuahia, which IPOB described as a politically-influenced act linked to the period of the Bakassi Boys.
None of those allegations has been independently confirmed.
IPOB restated that it stays a peaceable self-determination motion that operates throughout the boundaries of “home and worldwide legal guidelines.”
The group emphasised that its members are unarmed and that it has no navy construction able to finishing up the sort of coordinated violence instructed by the senator.
Defending the Jap Safety Community (ESN), IPOB described its operatives as an area safety outfit set as much as defend rural communities from violent assaults.
It insisted that “there is no such thing as a proof of ESN’s aggression towards communities” and accused the federal government of failing to current any credible proof linking the group to killings within the South-East.
The assertion additionally distanced IPOB from armed {groups} working within the area, together with Autopilot and the Biafra Liberation Military, which it claimed are sponsored “by political pursuits,” together with Senator Kalu.
IPOB maintained that Senator Kalu should launch the identities and verifiable proof of the alleged 30,000 victims or publicly retract his phrases. The group mentioned the South-East, Nigerians, and the worldwide group have been ready for the proof.
“If not, he should situation a public apology for his misleading feedback,” the assertion concluded.
The event provides to ongoing political tensions within the South-East, the place accusations from politicians, safety businesses, and separatist actions proceed to form the area’s fragile safety scenario.