• Kanu’s family cautions FG against false narrative as fresh trial begins
• Oppose evil, injustice, oppression, Ohanaeze chief tells Ndigbo
Media /Publicity Secretary of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Emma Powerful, has called for an international panel of inquiry, led by the United States of America (U.S.A), to investigate the root causes of insecurity in Igbo land to expose the true culprits.
He asserted that the group does not maintain camps anywhere, including in Imo State, clarifying that the recent claim of a “police raid on an IPOB terror camp” in Imo State is another fabrication.
He spoke in a statement marked, “Nigerian Government’s Anti-IPOB Media Campaign is a Deliberate Ploy to Manipulate Public Opinion,” describing IPOB as a non-violent self-determination movement advocating for a democratic referendum to restore Biafra.
He stated that even though none of the IPOB members has ever been convicted of any crime in Nigeria, “the government persists in denigrating the group to divert attention from Fulani massacres and widespread insecurity across the country.”
He strongly condemned what he called the Nigerian government’s orchestrated media campaign to demonise the IPOB movement, “particularly as the court hearing of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, approaches.”
According to Powerful, for four years, government-friendly media houses have peddled false narratives, labelling IPOB as violent to sway public opinion and influence Abuja-based courts. He also noted that “criminal elements, like the Biafra Liberation Army, unaffiliated with IPOB, have openly collaborated with state actors, including Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, while figures like Asari Dokubo boast of state-sponsored killings in Igbo land.”
While describing these peddled narratives as well-financed operations seeking to distract from the undeniable truth, Powerful stressed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government has no case against Kanu, noting that corrupt media houses ignore these verifiable allegations, choosing instead to propagate lies for profit.
MEANWHILE, Kanu’s family has cautioned the Federal Government over alleged false narratives and media manipulation against the detained IPOB leader.The family noted, with concern, that the false narratives and media manipulation are orchestrated against Kanu to tarnish his image during the trial of terrorism charges.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the family cited the recent barrage of alleged fabricated stories in the Nigerian media, accusing IPOB of crimes and insecurity in the South-East, as another attempt to link Kanu with violence.
The statement categorically stated that media manipulation always comes up each time Kanu’s court date draws nearer to portray him in a bad light before the judiciary.
HOWEVER, the Dim Uchechukwu Okwukwu-led Ohanaeze Ndigbo has told Ndigbo to use the period of Easter to resist any form of evil, injustice and oppressive tendencies of a few persons who do not mean well.
Okwukwu, a factional President-General of Ohanaeze, said this in an Easter message he signed. He lamented that Ndigbo had, in the past few years, been visited with barbaric terror and violence by some internal vampires. Okwukwu, however, urged the people not to despair but to keep faith in God.
