The Indigenous People of Biafra on Friday insisted that those behind the killings, abductions, and burning down of properties in the South-East were recruited by the politicians.
The group further said the perpetrators of the crime in the region were recruited to demonize IPOB and the Eastern Security Network.
In a statement on Saturday, the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said those behind the barbaric acts were the ones who did not want its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to be released.
Powerful said their primary intention was to create the false impression that Kanu’s followers were violent.
He noted that IPOB would ensure the protection of all persons living in Biafra land, including the non-indigenes.
He said, “We wish to state unequivocally that those behind these atrocities in the South-East are neither IPOB members nor ESN operatives.
“The perpetrators are criminals recruited by politicians to demonise us. No member of IPOB will engage in acts inimical to the people we are struggling to liberate. We are not terrorists and we cannot suddenly resort to terrorism.
“We want to make it categorically clear to all and sundry that anybody committing any atrocity in Biafra land in the name of IPOB or ESN operative doesn’t want Biafra to come.”
The group also stressed that the perpetrators are working with the security agencies to criminalise IPOB, adding that they should be prepared to pay for their sins because “we will not allow anyone who inflicts pains and sorrow on our people to go free”.
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