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Proscribed Igbo separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has distanced itself from the arrest of an alleged commander of the group and its armed militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), as Ifeanyi Eze Okorienta, popularly known as Gentle de Yahoo, who was arrested by the army on Tuesday.
The Biafra agitators, in a statement on Wednesday, also cautioned Nigerian security agencies against repeatedly linking it to the rising wave of insecurity in the country, particularly in the South-East, accusing them of using sections of the media to spread what it described as satanic lies and propaganda.
Gentle de Yahoo was captured by troops of the 34 Artillery Brigade in a joint operation with sister security agencies at his hideout in Aku-Ihube, Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State and while security agencies have linked him to IPOB, the group said in the statement that the suspect is not one of its members as being painted.
In the statement issued by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Director, Comrade Emma Powerful, the group called on Nigerian security agencies including the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Army, and the Police, to desist from linking it to the violence in the region as its members are neither kidnappers nor criminals.
“It has become the cheapest trick in Nigeria: any time the DSS, the Army, or the Police bungle in their duties, they quickly fabricate a headline, ‘IPOB/ESN commander arrested,” Powerful said.
“Today it is kidnapping, tomorrow it will be armed robbery, and by next week they will blame IPOB for floods, for road accidents, or even for their inability to impregnate their wives.
“We are not kidnappers. We are not criminals. We are not terrorists. Our only ‘crime’ is saying no to slavery, no to colonial injustice, no to the perpetual bondage of our people,” IPOB said.
The group also dismissed reports by the Nigerian Army that the alleged IPOB/ESN commander identified as Gentle de Yahoo was a disciple of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, insisting that the suspect himself has publicly denied being a member of the IPOB.
The group also warned the media against joining forces with the authorities to label it a terrorist group.
“When you join in staining IPOB with fabricated labels, you are not just injuring IPOB, you are participating in the destruction of truth itself. And God Almighty will not forgive you,” the group warned.
The post ‘Leave us alone’, IPOB reacts to arrest of alleged criminal, Gentle de Yahoo appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Top Stories from Ripples Nigeria.
