The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, accused the Nigerian Government of working hard to link it with the convicted Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa.
This comes amid the six-year jail bagged by Ekpa, leader of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile on Monday.
The sentence, which the Nigerian Government has hailed, was handed down by a Finland court.
IPOB has now reacted, distancing the group from Ekpa and his activities.
The Biafra group, which has made similar clarifications in the past, said the Nigerian government was launching a smear campaign to discredit its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
According to IPOB spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful, linking Ekpa to its movement is “a brazen fraud against truth and justice.”
“The world must know that the question of Simon Ekpa’s non-membership in IPOB is already judicially settled in Finland.
“IPOB under oath in a Finnish court testified that Simon Ekpa has never held any position in IPOB or ESN. Ekpa himself under oath described himself merely as a ‘content creator,’ admitted he disowned IPOB, and boasted that he would destroy IPOB,” Powerful declared, while accusing Ekpa of creating parallel structures in contradiction to IPOB’s ideology.
“Ekpa created his own contraptions: ‘Biafra Government in Exile,’ ‘Biafra Liberation Army (BLA),’ and ‘Biafra Defence Force, BDF,’ all of which, IPOB repudiated and condemned,” he stated.
It insisted that any attempt to associate Ekpa’s conviction with IPOB amounted to “deliberate misinformation — a calculated lie, knowingly repeated to deceive.”
“The Nigerian state is orchestrating this smear campaign as a diversionary tactic, timed precisely to contaminate the upcoming ruling on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s no-case submission.
“Why the unexplained delay in delivering judgment when the Federal Government has failed to establish even a prima facie case?
“The answer is obvious: they are buying time to inject irrelevant and extraneous narratives like Ekpa’s conviction, in a bid to corrupt judicial reasoning,” IPOB alleged.
It described the adjournment as “judicial hostage-taking — a weaponization of the courts to sustain persecution.”
The group also appealed to foreign governments and institutions, including the European Union, Finland, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations, to intervene in the matter.
“The Finnish court exonerated IPOB of any link to Simon Ekpa. We demand clarity be issued to Nigeria to stop this malicious misuse,” the group urged.
Addressing Western nations, IPOB said: “You have both condemned Nigeria’s extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya. If you are true to your principles, you must also condemn this latest charade — an attempt to derail a fair trial by importing lies.”
It further called on the United Nations to act, warning that “the Nigerian government is persecuting a self-determination leader in violation of the UN Charter. Silence in the face of a weaponized judiciary is complicity.”
Reaffirming its position, IPOB insisted that Simon Ekpa must bear his own burden.
“Simon Ekpa’s conviction is his burden and his alone. IPOB will never carry it. IPOB is a peaceful movement registered under international law, committed to lawful self-determination.
“This case in Abuja is not about IPOB’s legitimacy; it is about the persecution of one man — Mazi Nnamdi Kanu — for daring to demand freedom through peaceful means,” the group declared.
IPOB warned that the international community is closely watching Kanu’s trial.
“We warn Justice James Omotosho and the Nigerian judiciary: the eyes of the world are upon you. On 10 October 2025, the only acceptable outcome is one grounded in law and fact.
"Any judgment influenced by this manufactured smokescreen will be rejected as null and void by history, by law, and by the international community,” the statement read.
IPOB said Nigeria risked further damage to its image if it continued to misrepresent facts.
“Nigeria stands today at the bar of world opinion. Persist in this fraud, and you confirm yourselves a rogue state where the rule of law is dead,” it added.
NATIONAL POST reports that the IPOB had in the past also disowned the regular Monday sit-at-home which grounded economic activities in the South-East for over two years.
