The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has vowed to avenge the alleged killing and burning of the houses of supporters of the group by soldiers and Ebubeagu operatives.
This is just as the group described the alleged killing of innocent people and destruction of their property as genocide against Biafra land.
IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful stated these in a statement released on Wednesday.
Powerful stated that in less than one week, the Nigerian Army had burnt down over 30 houses of innocent citizens in Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi states because they were Igbo and sympathisers of IPOB.
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He warned that all those backing the actions, including governors of the South-East states, would soon pay for their “treachery and cruelty” to fellow citizens.
Powerful said it was high time the governors, if they know they had no hand in it, rose to put an end to the situation where people were being killed and their property razed for supposedly supporting IPOB.
He said that the actions of the Nigerian Army personnel were in furtherance of purported plot by the Federal Government to introduce Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) in Igbo land.
The IPOB spokesman warned that the group would not allow the “barbarity” to continue.
“We will avenge these unprovoked and needless attacks against the houses of innocent Biafran citizens. The mindless burning down of houses in our region by Nigerian security operatives and Ebubeagu cannot go unreciprocated.
“We warned against the formation of Ebubeagu in Biafra land because we knew they were coming to collude with the security agencies in killing our people.
“But the people ignored our warning, and today, we have been vindicated. Our fears have come true, but the wicked will not go free. For doing this to our people, we declare that the days of Ebubeagu in Biafra land are numbered. They will pay for what the military is using them to do against their fellow Biafrans,” the statement read in part.
The group said it would soon make public the total number of houses so far burnt down in different parts of the South East, especially in Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi states.
“We also want the governors of these states to take note, and not blame IPOB for any reprisal, because we can’t fold our arms and allow criminals in security uniforms to continue to commit genocide in Biafra land unchallenged. Since nobody is defending our hapless people, we shall not abandon them. Enough is enough!” the statement further read.
The IPOB spokesman berated the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other stakeholders from the South East for not speaking out against the situation.
“The Nigerian Army and the police, which cannot withstand terrorists rampaging and ravaging the whole North, must pay for their treachery! They will soon face the wrath of the people. Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership and the politicians are not left out, because they have done nothing to stop the mayhem.
“Elders and stakeholders in the South-East region should not beg us to calm down when we begin to pay back these agents of death and sorrow in their own coin. Instead, they should tell the Army and the police to stop burning down people’s properties now. By the time we shall begin to reciprocate these atrocities, we won’t listen to anybody.
“South-East governors must rise against this barbarity if they have no hand in it. There is nowhere in the North where innocent villagers are invaded by security agents and their houses set on fire,” the group stated.