IPOB Demands Release Of ‘Biafra Agitators’ Arrested By Security Agents

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has demanded the unconditional release of its Akwa Ibom State media head, Mazi Emmanuel Bassey Ekomiba, as well as Mazi Victor Sunday Okoro, another IPOB faithful.

Both were alleged to have been arrested by security operatives on September 30, 2020.

According to the publicity secretary of the IPOB, Emma Powerful, the immediate release of the duo became necessary as they were not terrorists or had committed any crimes to warrant their arrest.

Powerful also demanded the release of all Biafra agitators arrested during the recent sit-at-home order.

Powerful, in a statement made available to THE WHISTLER in Awka, Friday, said, “We want to put the world on notice of the abduction of Mazi Emmanuel Bassey Ekomiba, the media head of IPOB in Akwa Ibom State, and his colleague, Mazi Victor Sunday Okoro, who were abducted in Akwa Ibom during evangelism on 30th of September, 2020. We demand their immediate release because they are neither terrorists nor committed any crime to warrant their arrest.

“We equally demand the unconditional release of all Biafra agitators picked by security agents. We want the army that besieged the home of our leader at Isiama Afaraukwu on the October 1 to stop harassing residents of the area because they are not terrorists. Army authorities should send soldiers to Sambisa Forest, Baga, in Borno State, and other northern communities taken over by terrorists.

“IPOB is a peaceful movement committed to peaceful restoration of Biafra. Biafra is a divine project designed by the Most High God in Heaven, and there is nothing anybody can do to change our resolve to actualise Biafra independence.”

He further commended the ‘huge’ compliance with the sit-at-home order of the group during Nigeria’s independence celebration, adding that, “We thank the people of Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Imo, Abia, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Enugu and Ebonyi states as well as Idoma/Igede and other Igala clans, who complied with the order. Similarly, we commend our IPOB family members in the diaspora, who came out in their numbers to stage peaceful protests in furtherance of our struggle for self-determination.

“We also commend our Yoruba neighbours for observing the order in protest against the injustices, marginalisation and killings of indigenous Nigerians by the Fulani-led federal government. We commend all Biafra people and Odua people, who participated in this historic event. We must also, in a special way, commend all those who courageously came out to protest at different parts of Oduduwa Republic, including Lagos.”