IPOB denies hand in murder of Igbo Muslim cleric in Ebonyi

Proscribed Igbo separatist group, the
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has denied allegations that its members murdered an Igbo Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Iyiorji, in Ebonyi State.

A national newspaper had, in a publication on Saturday, accused IPOB of killing Sheikh Iyiorji who was murdered by some unknown people last week.

But in a statement on Sunday by the its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group insisted that none of its member would do such a thing.

In the statement entitled, ‘IPOB does not know Sheikh Iyiorji, let alone who killed him’, Powerful said the Biafran agitators do not kill its known enemies let alone kill an Igbo man who is not in any way a threat to it.

The statement made available to Ripples Nigeria reads:

“We the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, under the leadership and command of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, wish to disassociate ourselves from the alleged murder of a purported Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Iyiorji, in Ebonyi State.

“IPOB does not engage in such barbaric killings and cannot be part of such heinous crime against humanity. IPOB does not kill flies, not to talk of human beings and an Igbo man for that matter, irrespective of his religious belief.

Read also:Nigerian govt releases suspected IPOB members detained since 2020

“Is the alleged killed Igbo cleric a threat to the Biafra movement? How many of our known enemies have we killed, let alone killing our own, an Igbo man?

“We are aware that some unscrupulous elements and petty thieves are constantly being stage-managed by security agents to lie against IPOB members and ESN operatives.

“We also understood that the government and its compromised security agencies some time in the recent past arranged some condemn and hardened criminals from prisons and tutored them to claim that they were members of IPOB and ESN.

“A young man was also told to claim to be both IPOB, ESN and member of an unknown gunmen gang that killed many security agents and burnt down their police stations in the southeastern region, all in an attempt to lie and demonize IPOB.

“We won’t accept stage managing criminals to tarnish the image of IPOB/ESN, not today and not ever. IPOB and ESN have never killed any army officer, police officer, or DSS operative despite all provocations in the name of unknown gunmen.

“We have never killed anybody since we started the pursuit for Biafra freedom, and we will not change to become killers, we abhor shedding innocent blood,” the group said.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now