IPOB Tackles Akpabio over Alleged Threat to Crush Biafra Agitation

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has strongly refuted claims suggesting their self-determination movement is pursuing an armed struggle against the Nigerian state. This response comes in the wake of a statement by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who warned that any attempt to assert independence through armed conflict would be met with overwhelming federal might. Akpabio reportedly made these remarks at a funeral in Enugu State, urging elders and leaders in the Southeast to dissuudde youths from such paths. IPOB, through its spokesperson Emma Powerful, has unequivocally stated that its sole demand is a referendum, a democratic process it considers far more legitimate than Nigeria's electoral system.

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A situation whereby you try to wrestle power and try to assert independence through armed struggle from the federal government will fail. The state power will always overwhelm you.

IPOB views Akpabio's address not as a call for peace, but as a thinly veiled threat and political blackmail, delivered under the guise of funeral rhetoric. The group argues that the Senate President is well aware that no organization in the Southeast is currently engaged in armed struggle for Biafra. Instead, IPOB maintains that its advocacy is rooted in the internationally recognized right to self-determination, which it believes should be exercised through a referendum. They assert that this is a fundamental right, not subject to the permission of Nigerian political figures or the state itself.

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Let it be stated again, without ambiguity: IPOB is not engaged in armed struggle against Nigeria. IPOB’s position has never changed. IPOB is founded on one simple democratic demand: a referendum. Nothing more. Nothing less.

From the perspective of IPOB and its supporters, Akpabio's statements represent a continuation of a pattern of suppression and misunderstanding directed at the Biafra agitation. They emphasize that a referendum is a peaceful and democratic expression of political will, distinct from war or terrorism. The group criticizes the Nigerian political class for perpetuating a narrative of armed struggle to justify potential crackdowns, while simultaneously offering hollow promises of inclusion or additional states. IPOB insists that the people of Biafra are not seeking permission to exist or to determine their own future; they are asserting an inherent right that transcends the current political framework of Nigeria. This stance positions the Biafra question not as a security threat requiring military response, but as a matter of fundamental human and political rights.

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it was a threat and political blackmail wrapped in funeral rhetoric