The Indigenous People of Biafra has faulted the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, over his remarks allegedly attributing the spate of kidnappings in the South-East to Igbo youths.
The group accused Soludo of making inflammatory and baseless statements that could endanger the lives of innocent people in the region.
Soludo, while addressing Anambra indigenes in Maryland, United States, recently, had reportedly claimed that 99% of arrested kidnappers in the state were Igbos and not Fulani herdsmen.
Reacting in a statement on Thursday, IPOB’s Director of Media and Publicity, Emma Powerful, said the governor’s remarks amounted to a green light for security agencies and alleged Fulani militias to target and persecute innocent Igbo youths.
“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the leadership of our indomitable and unlawfully detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, wishes to draw the urgent attention of the global community, the diplomatic corps, international human rights organisations, and all lovers of truth and justice to the latest reckless, inflammatory, and genocidally provocative comments by the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo,” the statement partly read.
It added, “This public utterance, made without an iota of investigative backing, has now become the green light for the Nigerian security agencies and Fulani-sponsored terror militias to commence another round of massacre and abductions of innocent youths across the South-East.”
IPOB claimed that Soludo’s comments were dangerous and could justify extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests, and mass raids in the name of security operations.
“We ask the world: What kind of leader, in the face of rampant Fulani herdsmen invasions and military atrocities against his people, turns around to accuse his own youths without evidence?” it added.
The group accused the governor of pursuing political ambition and seeking favour from the ruling elite at the expense of his people’s safety.
IPOB also challenged the governor to present a single verified investigation or conviction that proves his claim and reiterated that IPOB remains a peaceful and non-violent self-determination group with no links to criminal activities.
It further accused Soludo of working against the release of Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB’s leader, who is currently in detention, despite his previous public statements calling for Kanu’s freedom.
Concluding, IPOB urged the people of Anambra and the wider South-East to be vigilant and to recognise who their true enemies are.
