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updated 10:20 AM UTC, Dec 13, 2023

Lai Mohammed: U.S. Is Wrong To Say IPOB Not A Terrorist Organization

Unic Press UK: Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has responded to the position of the United States that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is not a terrorist organization.

The spokesman for the American Embassy in Nigeria, Russell Brooks, told SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday, 22nd September, that the United States government has yet to place IPOB on its list of terrorist groups. He said:

“The United States Government is strongly committed to Nigeria’s unity. Important political and economic issues affecting the Nigerian people, such as the allocation of resources, are worthwhile topics for respectful debate in a democracy. Within the context of unity, we encourage all Nigerians to support a de-escalation of tensions and peaceful resolution of grievances”, the Punch reported on 24th September 2017) 

In response to the U.S. position on IPOB, Lai Mohammed, who was a guest Wednesday on BBC Focus Africa, said:

“The acts and utterances of IPOB were acts and utterances of terrorists. For instance Nnamdi Kanu was caught on tape saying that they want Biafra and not peacefully but by force and that  if they don’t get Biafra.”

In 2015, Global Terrorism Index reported that Fulani militants ranked fourth on terror group in the world. However, when asked to explain the reason behind Nigerian government’s apparent indifference to notorious/deadly Fulani herdsmen that had killed hundreds of innocents unlike IPOB, the Minister said:

“When an organisation openly solicits for arms all over the world; when an organisation starts issuing out its own passports and currency and does not recognise the democratically elected government, then it becomes a different thing.”


About IPOB

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are seeking a referendum on Biafra independence from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

IPOB claims to be the original inhabitants and the owners of the lands and communities of Biafra and Biafraland presently located in the South East region, some parts of South South region and some parts of the Middle Belt of Nigeria.

The group is led by Nnamdi Kanu, who holds dual citizenship being a Nigerian cum British national. Kanu is the director of Radio Biafra.

Kanu is facing a series of court cases in Nigeria, but currently on bail. Since the Nigerian military invaded his home on 14th September 2017, his whereabouts unknown.

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