UMUAHIA — The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has dismissed the Nigerian Army’s reported raid on suspected Eastern Security Network (ESN) camps in Anambra State as propaganda, demanding an independent investigation into the operation.
The group also accused the Federal Government and security agencies of using military operations and allegations against IPOB and ESN to divert public attention from what it described as the unresolved Biafran question and ongoing legal issues involving its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The Nigerian Army had reported that troops of the newly established 15 Brigade, operating under the Joint Task Force South-East, Operation UDO KA, alongside operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Agunechemba Vigilante Group, raided three suspected IPOB/ESN camps in the Osuakwa area along the Ihiala-Ogbaru axis of Anambra State on Saturday, August 15.
According to the Army, the operation was conducted following intelligence reports concerning the activities of suspected members of the group in the area.
The military said three suspected IPOB/ESN members were killed after troops allegedly came under fire during the operation, while three others were arrested.
The Army also said its personnel recovered an FN rifle loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition, a pump-action shotgun, 15 sticks of dynamite, four motorcycles, batteries, radio chargers and other items from the locations.
The military further stated that the suspected camps were subsequently dismantled.
However, reacting to the report, IPOB, through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, rejected the Army’s account and described the operation as an attempt to distract Nigerians from recent international discussions concerning Biafra and what the group referred to as “explosive legal issues” raised by Kanu in a letter to the President of the Court of Appeal.
IPOB maintained that the government could not resolve the Biafran issue through military operations or public statements, insisting that the circumstances surrounding the alleged raid should be independently established.
“You cannot bury Biafra with propaganda. You cannot silence Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu with manufactured headlines. And you cannot run forever from the truth by repeatedly shouting ‘ESN camp’,” the group said.
The organisation challenged the Nigerian Army to provide independently verifiable evidence supporting its claim that the locations raided were ESN camps.
It specifically demanded details concerning the identities of the individuals occupying the locations, the identities and status of those arrested, ownership of the sites and evidence establishing any connection between the locations, IPOB and Kanu.
“The Nigerian state cannot continually substitute press conferences for evidence,” IPOB said.
The group also questioned what it described as the military’s “selective obsession” with alleged ESN camps, arguing that armed criminals continue to attack rural communities and abduct residents across the South-East and other parts of the country.
IPOB said it does not support criminal activities but alleged that security agencies have continued to use insecurity in the region as a basis for portraying the organisation negatively.
The group argued that such operations, in its view, divert attention from what it considers the fundamental political and legal issues surrounding the Biafran question.
IPOB further rejected any suggestion that Kanu requires an ESN camp to present his case before the international community.
According to the organisation, Kanu’s legal arguments and the grievances it says are held by the Biafran people should be addressed through legitimate judicial and political processes rather than through military operations.
“Kanu does not need an ESN camp to make his case before the world,” the group stated.
IPOB consequently called on international journalists, diplomats, human rights organisations and foreign governments to independently examine military claims concerning IPOB and ESN rather than treating official statements as conclusive evidence.
The organisation said an independent investigation would help establish what happened during the reported operation, including the circumstances surrounding the deaths, arrests and alleged recovery of weapons and explosives.
The Army has yet to publicly respond to IPOB’s demand for an independent investigation into the operation.
