The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has vowed to punish anyone, including Southeast governors, sponsoring the Nigerian Army and Ebubeagu security outfit to burn houses and unleash mayhem on supporters of the group.
In a statement by the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, on Wednesday, IPOB challenged the South-East governors to rise against the situation, if they had no hand in it, saying there was nowhere in the North where innocent villagers were being attacked by security agents and their houses set on fire.
The group also described the destruction of properties and killing of innocent people suspected to be IPOB members or supporters as genocide against Biafra land.
It added that the people involved would soon pay for their “treachery and cruelty” to fellow citizens.
According to the statement, the Nigerian Army has burnt down over 30 houses of innocent citizens in Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi states in less than one week because they were Igbo and sympathisers of IPOB.
The statement read in part, “IPOB will not allow this barbarity and cruelty to continue. We will avenge these unprovoked and needless attacks against the houses of innocent Biafran citizens. The mindless burning down of houses in our region by Nigerian security operatives and Ebubeagu cannot go unreciprocated.
“We warned against the formation of Ebubeagu in Biafra land because we knew they were coming to collude with the security agencies in killing our people.
“But the people ignored our warning, and today, we have been vindicated. Our fears have come true, but the wicked will not go free. For doing this to our people, we declare that the days of Ebubeagu in Biafra land are numbered. They will pay for what the military is using them to do against their fellow Biafrans.”
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Powerful pointed out that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements to introduce Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in the southeast as was in the case in the Northeast. Adding that reports on the destructions done by the Army will be made public soon.
The statement added, “Very soon, we will make public the total number of houses so far burnt down in different parts of Biafra land, especially in Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi states.
“We also want the governors of these states to take note, and not blame IPOB for any reprisal, because we can’t fold our arms and allow criminals in security uniforms to continue to commit genocide in Biafra land unchallenged. Since nobody is defending our hapless people, we shall not abandon them. Enough is enough!”
The group also accused the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership and politicians in the region of doing nothing, while evils were being perpetrated in the land.
“The Nigerian Army and the police, which cannot withstand terrorists rampaging and ravaging the whole North, must pay for their treachery! They will soon face the wrath of the people. Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership and the politicians are not left out, because they have done nothing to stop the mayhem.
“Elders and stakeholders in the South-East region should not beg us to calm down when we begin to pay back these agents of death and sorrow in their own coin. Instead, they should tell the Army and the police to stop burning down people’s properties now. By the time we shall begin to reciprocate these atrocities, we won’t listen to anybody.
“South-East governors must rise against this barbarity if they have no hand in it. There is nowhere in the North where innocent villagers are invaded by security agents and their houses set on fire,” the statement said.
