The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has once again, dissociated itself from embattled leader of IPOB Auto-Pilot and self-styled Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE), Simon Ekpa and the recent declaration of a Biafra Republic in Finland.
IPOB, in a statement on Sunday issued by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, reiterated its stance on Ekpa, saying he is not a member of the group and as such, does not have the power or mandate to declare another Biafra Republic after the late Odimegwu Ojukwu’s declaration in 1966 which still stands till date.
The group also cautioned the media, individuals and groups to stop ascribing the detained Ekpa who they describe as a “Finland-based auto-pilot content creator” and others in his camp as its IPOB members.
“IPOB and its leader Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu are different people, not members of the government in exile,” Powerful said in the statement.
“We warn those media houses attaching the content creator to IPOB to please stop doing such. They are not IPOB members and can never be.
“Any self-serving on these individuals to keep tagging a content creator to the noble IPOB family will soon be defeated.
“If the purpose of these traducers in some sections of the print and electronic media is to pander to a warped sentiment that seeks to demean and demonise IPOB for the benefit of killer herdsmen and their sponsors, then they have failed.
“Simon Ekpa is a self confessed content creator and the head of a group of social media content creators known as Autopilots which were never part of the IPOB structure.
“So why the persistence in attaching somebody who declared publicly that he is not a member of IPOB to the peaceful movement?
“IPOB’s pursuit of self determination through the instrumentality of a UN supervised referendum is our only stated mission.
“Any entity or media house attaching or forcibly ascribing IPOB membership to nonentities or whomsoever they like are only being mischievous and not interested in true journalism.
“We suggest that these individuals associating content creators to IPOB to please conduct minor research into the speech and publicly stated utterances of these clueless and uninformed individuals masquerading as Autopilots to ascertain once and for all that they are not part of IPOB.”