ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), has challenged the Nigerian Army to provide independently verifiable evidence linking three camps reportedly raided in Anambra State to the group or its security arm, the Eastern Security Network, (ESN).
The group described the military operation as an attempt to divert attention from what it called unresolved issues surrounding the Biafran agitation and the legal battle involving its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
IPOB’s reaction followed the Army’s announcement that troops of the 15 Brigade, operating under the Joint Task Force South-East, Operation UDO KA, had raided three suspected IPOB/ESN camps in Osuakwa, along the Ihiala-Ogbaru axis of Anambra State.
The operation, conducted on Saturday, August 15, was reportedly carried out in collaboration with operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Agunechemba Vigilante Group.
The Army said the raid followed intelligence on the activities of suspected members of the group, adding that troops encountered resistance during the operation.
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According to the military, three suspected IPOB/ESN members were killed in the encounter, while three others were arrested.
It also said 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 were recovered from the camps before they were dismantled.
But IPOB, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, rejected the Army’s account, describing the operation as propaganda designed to shift public attention from the wider Biafran question.
The group demanded an independent investigation into the raid, particularly the circumstances surrounding the reported deaths and arrests.
IPOB challenged the Army to identify those allegedly occupying the camps and provide evidence establishing their connection with IPOB, ESN or Kanu.
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It also demanded details of the arrested suspects and evidence showing ownership of the locations allegedly used as camps.
“The Nigerian state cannot continually substitute press conferences for evidence,” IPOB said.
The group further accused security agencies of repeatedly using allegations involving ESN to portray IPOB as a criminal organisation while, according to it, armed criminal groups continue to operate across parts of the South-East.
IPOB said it did not support criminality but argued that security operations should not be used to obscure what it described as the fundamental political and legal questions surrounding the Biafran agitation.
The organisation also dismissed the suggestion that Kanu required an ESN camp to advance his case before the international community.
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According to IPOB, the issues raised by Kanu could be pursued through judicial and political channels without resorting to violence or criminal activities.
“Kanu does not need an ESN camp to make his case before the world,” the group said.
IPOB further claimed that the Army’s operation came at a time when attention was increasingly focused on international discussions concerning Biafra and legal issues allegedly raised by Kanu in a letter to the President of the Court of Appeal.
The group therefore urged international media organisations, diplomats, human rights bodies and foreign governments to independently examine claims made by Nigerian security agencies concerning IPOB and ESN.
It maintained that an impartial investigation would help establish what actually happened during the reported operation, including the identities of those killed and arrested and the nature of the items recovered.