IPOB tells Igbo to return for population census

Ignore announcements not to, group says

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by detained Nnamdi Kanu, has called on Biafrans resident in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria to return home during the forthcoming population census later this year.

The group emphasised that the coming census exercise would help ascertain the population and size of amenities needed in Biafra territory.

A statement signed by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, yesterday, said it is time to let the world know the population of Biafrans in Nigeria, as the struggle is gathering international attention and speed.

The statement reads in part: “The mass return of our people during the coming population census will help us quantify the population of Biafrans in Nigeria. Therefore, we must cease the opportunity, which Nigerian government is offering, to our benefit. They have always told the world that we are a dot with an insignificant population.

“Those who disenfranchised Biafrans during the last elections should never be allowed to use us to boost their population again. They have always used Biafran’s population for higher allocations; yet, they deny Biafrans opportunity to freely participate in national issues in their territories.

“It’s time we use our tongue to count our teeth.

“Therefore, IPOB is calling on every Biafran resident in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria to come back to the South East and be counted in their home states. Kindly disregard any announcement from any quarter, especially from government agencies, asking people not to go back to their state of origin during the census.

“Don’t let them deceive you. It’s the same agenda to keep falsifying and deceiving the world that we are a small dot in the contraption.

“IPOB will engage transport owners to be part of this project so that those willing to travel back to the South East during the exercise can do so. We are calling on well-meaning Igbo businessmen and women, entrepreneurs, senators, ministers, commissioners, and House of Assembly members from the Southeastern states to contribute in whatever way to ensure our people come home during this population census exercise.”