By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
Barely 24 hours after conviction of Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa by a Finnish court, the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), has accused the Nigerian Government of working hard to link it up with the convicted Biafra agitator.<\/p>\n
This development came amid the six-year jail bagged by Ekpa, leader of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile on Monday.<\/p>\n
The sentence, which the Nigerian Government has hailed, was handed down by a Finnish court. <\/p>\n
IPOB has now reacted, distancing the group from Ekpa and his activities.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
According to IPOB spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful, linking Ekpa to its movement is \u201ca brazen fraud against truth and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world must know that the question of Simon Ekpa\u2019s non-membership in IPOB is already judicially settled in Finland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIPOB 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 \u2018content creator,\u2019 admitted he disowned IPOB, and boasted that he would destroy IPOB,\u201d Powerful declared, while accusing Ekpa of creating parallel structures in contradiction to IPOB\u2019s ideology.<\/p>\n
\u201cEkpa created his own contraptions: \u2018Biafra Government in Exile,\u2019 \u2018Biafra Liberation Army (BLA),\u2019 and \u2018Biafra Defence Force, BDF,\u2019 all of which, IPOB repudiated and condemned,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
It insisted that any attempt to associate Ekpa\u2019s conviction with IPOB amounted to \u201cdeliberate misinformation \u2014 a calculated lie, knowingly repeated to deceive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nigerian state is orchestrating this smear campaign as a diversionary tactic, timed precisely to contaminate the upcoming ruling on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu\u2019s no-case submission. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy the unexplained delay in delivering judgment when the Federal Government has failed to establish even a prima facie case? <\/p>\n
\u201cThe answer is obvious: they are buying time to inject irrelevant and extraneous narratives like Ekpa\u2019s conviction, in a bid to corrupt judicial reasoning,\u201d IPOB alleged.<\/p>\n
It described the adjournment as \u201cjudicial hostage-taking \u2014 a weaponization of the courts to sustain persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Finnish court exonerated IPOB of any link to Simon Ekpa. We demand clarity be issued to Nigeria to stop this malicious misuse,\u201d the group urged.<\/p>\n
Addressing Western nations, IPOB said: \u201cYou have both condemned Nigeria\u2019s extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya. If you are true to your principles, you must also condemn this latest charade \u2014 an attempt to derail a fair trial by importing lies.\u201d<\/p>\n
It further called on the United Nations to act, warning that \u201cthe Nigerian government is persecuting a self-determination leader in violation of the UN Charter. Silence in the face of a weaponized judiciary is complicity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reaffirming its position, IPOB insisted that Simon Ekpa must bear his own burden.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimon Ekpa\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis case in Abuja is not about IPOB\u2019s legitimacy; it is about the persecution of one man \u2014 Mazi Nnamdi Kanu \u2014 for daring to demand freedom through peaceful means,\u201d the group declared.<\/p>\n
IPOB warned that the international community is closely watching Kanu\u2019s trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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. <\/p>\n
“Any judgment influenced by this manufactured smokescreen will be rejected as null and void by history, by law, and by the international community,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
IPOB said Nigeria risked further damage to its image if it continued to misrepresent facts.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria 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,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent Barely 24 hours after conviction of Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa by a Finnish court, the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), has accused the Nigerian Government of working hard to link it up with the convicted Biafra agitator. This development came amid the six-year jail bagged by Ekpa, leader of the Biafra Republic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1137,3856,33,3105,4356,4357,1641,4358],"class_list":["post-6834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime","tag-activities","tag-agitator","tag-biafra","tag-convicted","tag-facts","tag-grounded","tag-misrepresent","tag-simon-ekpa-economic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6835,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions\/6835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}