IPOB Warns Police Commissioner To Stop Intimidating Abia Community Leaders Over Alleged Murder Of Herdsman
The group alleges that the police are acting on information provided by Fulani herders, whom IPOB accuses of being responsible for violent attacks, including kidnapping and sexual violence, in the region.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has issued a strong warning to the Abia State Police Commissioner to stop intimidating community leaders in Nkpa, Isikwuato Local Government Area of the state over allegations surrounding the killing of a Fulani herdsman.
IPOB issued the warning in a statement issued on Saturday by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful.
The pro-Biafra group claimed that some leaders from the Nkpa community were summoned by the police commissioner based on what IPOB describes as “false accusations” regarding the alleged murder of a Fulani herdsman.
The group alleges that the police are acting on information provided by Fulani herders, whom IPOB accuses of being responsible for violent attacks, including kidnapping and sexual violence, in the region.
According to Powerful, IPOB said that its intelligence unit found out that the police commissioner and his officers subjected the community leaders to lengthy interrogations.
Powerful stated, “The IPOB intelligence unit has confirmed that Abia State Police Commissioner and his group of clueless and unprofessional officers summoned the leaders of Nkpa Community for defending their community against the murderous Fulani terrorists who rape their women and kidnap people for ransom.
“The Fulani are setting the stage to invade the community with this false accusation. The false alarm was a strategy to use the notorious Nigerian Police to intimate the Nkpa Community for obstructing their terrorists’s plans.”
IPOB identified the affected leaders as Mr. Ernest Lekweke – youth leader; Bishop-Elect Ugoo Nwosu – President-General; Women leader of Nkpa Community, and Community Vigilante Commander, Mr. Okechukwu Felix Okoro.
The group noted that the individuals were pressured to admit to a crime that did not occur.
“We were reliably informed that the Abia Police Commissioner, through his proxy officers, grilled the above named persons for hours and forced them to accept that a Fulani terrorist was killed in their community when no such thing happened.
“The Nigerian Police is pressuring the people to accept the case of Fulani murder and to produce those responsible.”
IPOB questioned why Fulani leaders are rarely interrogated for the numerous attacks allegedly perpetrated by herders in the region.
The separatist organisation warned that any harm done to the summoned individuals or the Nkpa community will be blamed on the police commissioner.
According to IPOB, “The Abia State Police Commissioner must stop provoking Ndigbo. If anything untoward happens to those people they interrogated and the Nkpa Community, the terrorists sympathetic Police Commissioner will be held responsible.”
IPOB further claimed that Nigerian security agencies, including the police and judiciary, are complicit in an alleged broader agenda to destabilise indigenous communities in favor of Fulani interests.
Powerful condemned what it calls “state-sponsored terrorism” and accused the Nigerian government of failing to address the activities of Fulani herdsmen, who have been linked to violence across the country.
IPOB insisted that the Eastern Security Network (ESN), its paramilitary wing, would continue to protect Biafra land from external threats without seeking approval from local authorities.
Powerful stated, “The Abia State Police Commissioner, be warned! Biafra Land is not Yobe State where Mr. Sunday Jackson was sentenced to death by a Fulani Judge for defending himself against a Fulani terrorist.”
The group has called on Igbos both at home and abroad to mobilise resources for self-defense against what they describe as an invasion by Fulani militants.
IPOB has also issued a directive to its ESN operatives to increase security measures in the affected areas to prevent further conflicts.
The Abia State Police Command has yet to respond to IPOB’s accusations.
