The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has denounced what it described as sponsored news announcing the demise of “the Enugu-based freelance prophet, Anthony Nwoko” and his previous association with its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

The group described the motive behind the news report as “an exercise in futility.”

IPOB said that the news will not change its leader’s resolve to make an earth-shattering worldwide broadcast scheduled for today, Saturday, April 20, 2019 on Radio Biafra.

Responding to the rumours surrounding the unconfirmed reports of the demise of Nwoko, IPOB, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, said: “Our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, will make a radio broadcast so that mankind may know the evil that Nigeria has become.”

The group said that the diversionary tactics of planting a sensational story in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-sympathetic newspapers “is meaningless and will never work.”

It insisted that whoever it was within the Nigerian security apparatus that dreamt what it described as a ruse’ is a colossal failure, saying that IPOB has faced worse things and come out stronger.

The statement reads in part: “Should independent autopsy confirm any foul play in the reported death of Anthony Nwoko, then DSS [Department of State Security] and the Nigeria Army will be held accountable. Their recent spate of abductions and killings across Biafraland is proof, if any is needed, that they would commit whatever atrocity they can, in the hope of implicating IPOB.

“We mourn the loss of every Biafran, and in this regard, we remember those shot dead in Asaba a few days ago on Monday, April 15, recent victims of Fulani terrorist attacks in Anambra, Delta and Abia states. Our hearts also go out to those unlawfully incarcerated for the unspeakable crimes at a Catholic Church in Ozubulu who have only two days ago regained their freedom.”

IPOB also accused the Nigerian government and her security agencies of striving to stain the unimpeachable reputation of the group in the hope of using it as a cover to continue their ongoing war against IPOB.

The group called on the media to be mindful of their reports so as not to prejudice the uninvestigated circumstances surrounding the passing of Anthony Nwoko and more so become unwitting agents of dark forces that tarnish the image of IPOB at any given opportunity.

It further explained that as a movement rooted in the principles of democratic values and all it entails, IPOB will always welcome criticisms from all quarters saying that the Biafra it is seeking to build is one that will bring an open, tolerant society.

IPOB cautioned Biafrans “to be mindful of the opportunities their perceived hostility towards Biafra liberation might present to those seeking to exploit it for the benefit of the Fulani ‘One Nigeria’ caliphate agenda.”

The statement added: “Enemies of Biafra within and outside the East will seek out every available avenue to damage the stellar standing of IPOB and her leadership and they will never ever stop until we recognise the danger they pose to us all.

“Without the benefit of any official police report on the cause of death, or a cause of death determined by a medical examiner, some journalists of Igbo extraction have already filed a report to their Yoruba bosses in Abuja and Lagos indicting IPOB. Those whose headline screamed “butchered in his house” failed to tell us why no single trace of blood was found in his house or his clothes.

“If this APC demonic dictatorship had their way, they would have blamed IPOB for the sacking and conviction of (Walter) Onnoghen in order to engineer enmity between South East and South South. Nothing is beyond them in their desperation to subdue every opposition.

“We will flush out the great impostor from Aso Rock. He must provide his DNA and face charges of high crimes and misdemeanors, alongside Abba Kyari and the rest.

“Nothing our enemies does, even with the help of a media that doesn’t investigate stories, will stop IPOB from liberating Biafra from the shackles of damnation and iniquity that Nigeria has come to represent.”

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