The leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have stated unequivocally that they will not be held to ransom by traditional rulers in Igbo land.
The IPOB leadership were reacting to a statement credited to the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe. Achebe was reported to have said that IPOB had no authority to stop the upcoming Anambra gubernatorial polls.
Igwe Achebe had earlier stated “the election is for us not for the entire country, you cannot have a referendum in one part of the country without carrying other parts of the country along, and the government must support and sponsor it before it will be organized and not carving out some parts of the country for the referendum.”
“The election must hold and nobody or group of persons will stop it, nobody should come to our state to cause unnecessary tension”
According to IPOB statement, “IPOB is a well known peace loving organization around the globe which has not been involved in violent activities in Nigeria, but have been violently attacked by the Hausa Fulani dominated security apparatus in Nigeria, who derive joy in killing the innocent members of IPOB.”
“We respect our elders and traditional title holders, like Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha and others who are making different statements regarding the IPOB decision to boycott elections in Biafra land starting from Anambra state election unless they give us a date for Biafra restoration.
“We believe they are entitled to their opinion but they cannot intimidate or set agenda for IPOB members from carrying out our decision. And they should know that they are human beings and cannot challenge IPOB worldwide.
“However, anybody who wants to come out and vote is free, but IPOB will not stop to fulfill the promise of boycotting the Anambra State Governorship election, come November 18, 2017 and we promise Igwe Achebe to come out and vote.
“IPOB will prove its formidability to Igwe Achebe and his likes on that very particular day that we are not politicians and we are not playing politics with Biafra restoration project because Biafra independence is the future of our children and unborn children.