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‘We don’t care about Nigeria’s elections’, IPOB says, denies attacks on INEC facilities

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The proscribed Igbo secessionist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has once again, reiterated that it is not interested in the forthcoming 2023 general elections in Nigeria which it described as a jamboree, as all it wants is a referendum that will decide the fate of Biafran Republic.

The Biafran agitators, in a statement on Monday by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said the only thing the group wanted was a date for a referendum for the Igbos to exit the country.

The group also denied categorically having any hand in the incessant attacks on facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in the South-East region especially in Anambra and Imo states.

IPOB further alleged that the attackers who were masquerading as its members were sponsored by “unscrupulous” politicians to give the group and its military wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), a bad name.

“IPOB condemns the recent attacks on INEC offices and staff in Ihiala LGA, Anambra State. The criminal gangs operating within Ihiala LGA and Orsuihiteukwa in Orsu LGA, Imo State are primarily funded and sponsored by unscrupulous politicians to demonise IPOB and ESN operatives.

“We maintain that we have no interest in the selection process called the Nigerian election. Hence, we refrained from making any statement concerning the jamboree.

READ ALSO:IPOB alleges plot by ‘desperate politicians’ to assassinate Atiku in South-East

“Our only demand is a referendum date for us to decide our political, social and economic future either in a united Nigeria or as an independent Biafran nation.

“IPOB and ESN operatives did not ask any group to attack INEC facilities for whatever reason, nor did we issue any sit-at-home order within the election period.

“Anybody linking IPOB to the malicious sit-at-home order must be very ignorant. IPOB has its own channels to disseminate information, whether through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, or through an official IPOB memo signed by the Head of the Directorate of State of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Chika Edoziem.

“Any IPOB public information that is not from the above-mentioned channels should be disregarded.

“The attacks on INEC facilities within this period are not supported by IPOB, because that will not add any positive value to our struggle. We are only seeking Biafran freedom through peaceful means and not through violence.”

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