The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has issued a strongly worded statement challenging the Nigerian Army to produce in court the 13 individuals it claimed to have arrested during a recent raid in Delta State, which the military alleges was targeted at "IPOB hideouts."
In the statement released on Monday, August 4, 2025, IPOB, through its spokesperson Comrade Emma Powerful, described the military’s announcement as “another episode in the Nigerian Army’s routine propaganda warfare,” insisting that the group has no hideouts or camps in Delta State or anywhere else in Biafra land.
“We are a peaceful movement of enlightened, urban-based, family-rooted indigenous people, not the nomadic bandits the Nigerian security forces are clearly more familiar with,” IPOB said.
Accusing the military of deliberately spreading falsehoods to tarnish the group’s image and divert attention from worsening insecurity in other parts of Nigeria, IPOB claimed the arrests were part of a larger smear campaign orchestrated by what it described as the “Fulani-controlled Nigerian military establishment.”
The separatist group issued a seven-day ultimatum to the military to charge the arrested suspects in a court of competent jurisdiction. Failing this, IPOB threatened legal action against the military commander in charge of the operation.
“If, after 7 days, these suspects are not presented in open court with credible evidence linking them to IPOB activities, we shall initiate a lawsuit compelling this military commander to appear before a judge to defend his reckless lies under oath,” the statement read.
IPOB further declared that it will not be intimidated or criminalized by “state propaganda,” emphasizing that its existence and mission predate Nigeria itself.
“The Biafran people were flourishing in trade, industry, and organized governance before the Fulani ever left the Mountain of Vultures (Futa Jallon) to invade Gobir. IPOB is not a group born out of civil war trauma; it is the re-assertion of a divine identity,” the statement added.
The group also lashed out at security agencies, warning them to “desist from their fruitless attempts to link IPOB to criminality,” asserting that IPOB does not engage in bombings, kidnappings, or attacks on military personnel — crimes it alleged are more prevalent in the North.
IPOB concluded its statement by reiterating its readiness to challenge any false claims in court and demand accountability for what it termed as “lies, propaganda, and the blood shed” by Nigerian security forces.
“If you claim to have evidence, take it before a judge. If not, prepare to be taken to court yourselves,” the group warned.
