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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has appealed to the media to desist from associating it with the self acclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra Republic, Simon Ekpa.
Spokesman of the group, Emma Powerful, who made the appeal in a statement he released to newsmen, yesterday, clarified that Ekpa is not a member of IPOB nor the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and urged the media to desist from linking them together.
He said: “For the purposes of clarity and emphasis, the said Simon Ekpa is not in any way a registered member of IPOB, nor is he connected to Eastern Security Network (ESN). It is, therefore, imperative that media houses are appropriately guided to reflect this reality in their publications, henceforth.”
He also noted that IPOB is not divided or has factional leadership or involved in any “entity associated with efforts to criminalise the social-political space in the South East”.
Powerful, therefore, referred to those linking the leader of the Biafra Government In Exile (BGIE), Ekpa, as a factional leader of IPOB, as either being misguided, ill informed or playing the script of his main sponsors, with main agenda to destabilise the South East with the use of criminals.
Powerful added: “Ekpa is unknown to ESN. The fact that he has been using ESN’s name to dupe gullible people, through his endless fund raising schemes, does not in any way link him to ESN formed by IPOB.
“Ekpa has an inconspicuous group called the government in exile. He can be seen in most of his social media videos alluding to this very fact.
“It is, therefore, worrying that some media houses have persisted in attributing membership of IPOB to Simon Ekpa, irrespective of the obvious. We appeal to ladies and gentlemen of the media to, please, refrain from associating Ekpa as a member of IPOB, because he is not. Recall, in 2016, DSS created a phantom factional IPOB leader known as Okwudili.
“This time around they have unveiled Simon Ekpa, who was the Okwudili of REN-IPOB. What the government of Nigeria is doing, today, with Simon Ekpa, is the same mission to divide and destroy IPOB from within, which failed with the veiled Okwudili of REN-IPOB. All the efforts to bring IPOB down will fail and will continue to fail until Biafra is restored,” Powerful said.
