By Mick Oseji, Asaba
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has launched a scathing attack on Senate President Godswill Akpabio, accusing him of disguising threats as peace overtures in his recent comments directed at youths in the South-East.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the group described Akpabio’s remarks in Enugu as “state propaganda, political blackmail, and a failed attempt to coerce Ndigbo into submission.”
Akpabio had earlier advised Igbo youths to abandon any form of armed struggle, warning that “state power will always overwhelm you.” He also floated the possibility of creating an additional state in the South-East as part of broader inclusion efforts.
However, IPOB rejected the comments, insisting they were far from conciliatory.
“This was not a peace message. It was a threat. It was not dialogue. It was political blackmail wrapped in funeral rhetoric,” the group said.
IPOB maintained that it is not engaged in any armed struggle, stressing that its agitation is rooted in a call for a referendum on self-determination.
The group, led by separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, who is serving life imprisonment in Sokoto, the city of the Caliphate, argued that a referendum remains the most democratic way to determine the political future of the people.
According to the group, attempts to portray its activities as violent are deliberate misrepresentations aimed at justifying state repression.
“They frame a referendum movement as ‘armed struggle’ because the State cannot defeat its democratic legitimacy. Such narratives have failed for years and will fail again,” the statement added.
IPOB also revisited the controversial arrest and rendition of Kanu, alleging that he was abducted in Kenya and unlawfully returned to Nigeria in violation of international law.
It further claimed that the ongoing legal proceedings against him amount to judicial pressure and political intimidation.
Citing provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the group insisted that the right to self-determination is legally guaranteed and cannot be suppressed.
“Only the people have the sovereign right to determine their political future, whether within Nigeria or outside it,” IPOB declared.
The group also dismissed Akpabio’s suggestion of creating an additional state in the South-East, describing it as “an insult” and “a political carrot that cannot replace the demand for sovereignty.”
“Biafra is not negotiable through patronage. You do not answer a sovereignty question with local government arithmetic,” the statement said.
IPOB concluded by warning that no amount of political pressure or intimidation would force its leadership to abandon the Biafra cause, insisting that the movement’s future rests solely in the hands of the people.
