Bremen, Germany – October 1, 2025
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has strongly rejected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Independence Day address, describing it as divisive and hateful.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the movement accused the president of deliberately and falsely equating IPOB with Boko Haram, while omitting mention of real violent organizations such as ISWAP, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, and Lakaruwa. IPOB emphasized that it is a peaceful movement pursuing self-determination through nonviolent means, noting that a 2017 judgment by the Federal High Court in Abuja declared that the organization is not a terrorist group.
The movement condemned what it described as hypocrisy in Tinubu’s speech, arguing that while his administration downplays atrocities committed by armed herdsmen as “farmer-herder clashes,” it is quick to label unarmed Igbo youths as terrorists. IPOB accused the president of harboring prejudice against the Igbo people and acting at the behest of external interests. The statement further criticized the Igbo political class for being “spineless” and complicit, stating that they had invited Tinubu to “dance on the graves of their own people.”
Reaffirming its position, IPOB insisted that it is not Boko Haram, ISWAP, or any other violent extremist group, but a people struggling for survival against what it calls state-sponsored persecution. The group reiterated demands for the release of its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, citing multiple court orders that have directed his freedom. IPOB maintained that Tinubu’s alleged attempt to criminalize the Igbo nation through “state propaganda” would fail, declaring that its pursuit of Biafra’s liberation is rooted in justice, truth, and international law.
Below is the full text of the press statement:
PRESS STATEMENT
01/10/2025
WE REJECT TINUBU’S HATE-FILLED INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH-IPOB
The attention of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been drawn to the divisive and hateful Independence Day address delivered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in which he recklessly and falsely lumped IPOB with Boko Haram, whilst in the same breadth exonerating ISWAP, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Lakaruwa. By not mentioning them and focusing only on Boko Haram and IPOB, Tinubu effectively signalled they are not terrorist groups.
This deliberate falsehood cannot stand unchallenged. IPOB is a peaceful, globally recognized movement pursuing self-determination through nonviolent means. Not a single shred of verifiable evidence has ever been presented in any court of law linking IPOB or our leader to terrorism, kidnapping, or killings. The Federal High Court in Abuja has already ruled unequivocally that IPOB is not a terrorist organization as far back as March 2017. That subsisting judgment has never been vacated. Tinubu, a man supposedly educated in the United States, knows very well that an exparte order cannot proscribe a mass movement of millions of people without adversarial hearing. That “proscription” was nothing but a worthless piece of paper—abused by successive regimes to unleash mayhem, massacres, and extrajudicial killings upon unarmed Biafrans.
The Hypocrisy of Tinubu’s Speech:
It is hypocritical and insulting for Tinubu to demonize IPOB while exonerating Fulani killer herdsmen who are daily terrorizing citizens from Kwara to Plateau, from Benue to Enugu. When entire communities are wiped out, his government calls it “farmer-herder clashes.” Yet, when unarmed Igbo youths protest peacefully, they are branded terrorists. This double standard exposes Tinubu’s deep-seated prejudice against the Igbo race. As Tinubu is fixated with IPOB, at the behest of the British and Igbo quislings that pass as politicians in Igbo land, Kwara State has been overrun by the real terrorists from Janjaweed territories.
A Message to the Toothless Igbo Political Class:
Tinubu dares to insult IPOB because he knows that the so-called Igbo political class are weak, spineless errand boys of Abuja—Efulefus without conscience. In his speech, Tinubu did not only indict IPOB; he indirectly indicted the shameless politicians who invited him into Igboland to dance on the graves of their own people. They should know that history will not absolve them.
We state categorically that IPOB is not Boko Haram, not ISWAP, not Al-Qaeda. We are a people struggling for our survival in the face of state-sponsored genocide. Our leader is still being held illegally in DSS dungeon despite multiple court rulings ordering his release. If Tinubu truly believes in justice, let him obey the courts instead of propagating lies.
The world must take note: IPOB rejects and condemns Tinubu’s hate speech. His attempt to criminalize an entire nation of Igbo people through the backdoor of state propaganda will fail. The struggle for Biafra’s liberation is a just cause rooted in truth, justice, and international law. No amount of blackmail will erase that.
COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL
SPOKESPERSON/MEDIA AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR IPOB.
