Looters sponsoring IPOB to destabilise Buhari’s govt – Minister Lai

Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday said that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was sponsored by politically-disgruntled looters so as to rubbish the laudable achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, the disgruntled “elements” wanted to use IPOB to sabotage the Buhari administration under the guise of fighting for the rights of the people of the South-East.

A statement released by the Special Assistant to the minister, Segun Adeyemi, quoted Mohammed as saying this at a press conference in Lagos..

He went further to say “Nigerians must understand that IPOB was not set up to fight for the right of anyone or group, but as a tool to destabilise the nation, divert attention from the efforts of the Buhari administration and obliterate the laudable achievements of the government.

“IPOB is being sponsored by those I will call the Coalition of the Politically Disgruntled and the Treasury Looters. They believe that by sponsoring this group to destabilize the country and trigger chaos, they will realize their ambition of escaping justice and then be free to dip their hands into the nation’s treasury again.”

Mohammed, who wondered why the activities of IPOB became heightened with the advent of this Buhari’s administration argued, “If this is coincidental, then that coincidence is uncanny, at the least. Remember that Nnamdi Kanu, who led a protest at the Nigeria House in London against Boko Haram insurgency and in support of Nigeria’s unity, under the Jonathan Administration, has suddenly metamorphosed into an IPOB monster who will rather set the nation ablaze.

“Thankfully, IPOB has failed in its evil machinations. The good people of Nigeria have seen beyond those cheap tactics and have avoided being incited against one another. We must remain vigilant and resolute. We must all say no to the incendiary and divisive tendencies of IPOB and its cohorts,” he said.

Read also: PDP, Ohanaeze disagree with Defence Hq for tagging IPOB as terrorists

The Minister commended the Nigerian military for labeling IPOB a terrorist organisation and for checkmating the group, and the South-East governors for proscribing the organisation.

The Minister also appealed to the media to show greater restraint and avoid sensationalism in their reporting of the military exercise, Operation Python Dance II, in the South-east.

”The divisive and jaundiced opinions of some anarchists have been given a big play by a section of the media. This is wrong. Let me remind all of us of the role of the media, especially the radio, in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that left about 800,000 people dead,” he said, adding that the Nigerian media cannot afford to sit on the fence or engage in irresponsible journalism when the issue at stake is the very survival of the nation.

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