Don’t Deviate From the Fundamental Objective, Mazi Chika Edoziem Encourages IPOB Members
Bremen, Germany – December 8, 2025
At the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) end-of-year gathering in Switzerland on Sunday, December 7, 2025, a moving address by the Head of the Directorate of State, Mazi Chika Edoziem, stirred renewed commitment within the global Biafran community.
The video of the event, which has since gone viral, captures a solemn but resolute Edoziem reminding IPOB members of the movement’s central mission.
“Don’t deviate from the objective. Don’t deviate from the fundamental objective. And we do not have two objectives,” Edoziem said emphatically.
“It is the restoration of the sovereign, independent, and free Biafra nation, where our children, our people, and generations unborn will live in peace, in dignity, and in honor.”
Edoziem noted that despite the meager resources available to the organization, IPOB has managed to achieve what many have described as a remarkable global mobilization effort, careful diplomatic engagements, and a sustained advocacy campaign for self-determination.
The message comes at a critical time, as IPOB has faced its toughest years under intense clampdowns by the Nigerian Government and its international partners, especially British Government, whom the group accuses of maintaining colonial-era geopolitical interests that undermine democratic freedoms in West Africa.
A Referendum, Not War: IPOB’s Democratic Demand
IPOB continues to champion a United Nations-supervised referendum, insisting that only the ballot-not bullets-can resolve the longstanding issues of Fulani terrorism, Christian genocide, and the sweeping lawlessness that has pushed the Nigerian state into total collapse.
Despite insisting on a peaceful, democratic solution, IPOB’s call for a referendum has been repeatedly rejected by Nigerian authorities. Under former president Muhammadu Buhari, the demand for self-determination was infamously interpreted as “a declaration of war.”
This position opened the floodgates to one of the most aggressive domestic crackdowns in contemporary West Africa, with thousands extra-judicially killed, thousand others tortured, disappeared, and held without trial.
The administration of Bola Tinubu has maintained this hardline posture, despite global human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issuing repeated condemnations.
The Continued Ordeal of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu
IPOB struggle has faced numerous challenges, one of which is the fate of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was abducted in June 2021 in Kenya, tortured for eight days, and illegally renditioned to Nigeria.
Despite multiple court rulings ordering his release, including a landmark judgment by the Court of Appeal Abuja in 2022 and a scathing decision by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Kanu remains detained by the Department of State Services.
The courts not only discharged and acquitted him but also declared his detention unlawful, ordering his immediate release and compensation. Yet the Nigerian government continues to ignore these rulings, prompting international concerns about the erosion of rule of law under Tinubu’s administration.
Just weeks ago, Kanu narrowly survived an alleged assassination attempt inside DSS custody. In open court, he identified the very officer who attacked him. No disciplinary action was taken, strengthening public belief that the attempt must have been state-engineered.
The government had previously through Buhari and the former Attorney General boasted that they “could have killed him if they wanted,” a statement that now raises even graver questions about his safety, especially after the recent globally condemned action by Justice James Omotosho who sentenced him to life imprisonment and within a few hours of the ruling moved him to Sokoto prison, with recorded history of prison break.
The sentencing has been widely condemned by law experts as a total miscarriage of justice, and described as political persecution.
Kanu remains without adequate medical treatment for life-threatening conditions linked to the torture he suffered pre-rendition, despite outcry by his doctor for immediate medical attention. Kanu, speaking to the public had stated that the Nigerian government deliberately allows his health to rundown. “Their plan is to release me when they see that I am about to give up,” Kanu revealed.
Edoziem’s Message: Stay Focused, Stay United
Against this backdrop of heightened repression, Edoziem’s Switzerland address served as both a moral reminder and a strategic call to action.
He praised the resilience of IPOB members worldwide and urged them to stay disciplined, focused, and unwavering in their pursuit of a democratic Biafran referendum.
His message reinforces the movement’s belief that self-determination is a human right, repression cannot extinguish a legitimate democratic demand, and unity remains IPOB’s strongest weapon.
As Biafrans across the world reflect on the year’s trials and triumphs, Edoziem’s words echo powerfully:
“We have only one objective: the total restoration of Biafra. Do not deviate.”
