The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has made allegations against one of its factional leaders, Mr. Simon Ekpa, claiming that he is collaborating with the Department of State Services (DSS), in an attempt to undermine and weaken the group.
According to a statement issued on Monday by Mr. Emma Powerful, the Publicity Secretary of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the group accuses its factional leader, Mr. Simon Ekpa, of colluding with the Department of State Services (DSS), to destabilize the organization.
The statement was made available to journalists in Awka, Anambra state. According to the statement, Ekpa was in 2016 trained by DSS and sent into IPOB as a mole.
Following the arrest of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu in 2021, a Finland-based separatist leader took on the leadership of IPOB.
However, he later declared himself as the Prime Minister of the Biafra Government in Exile. This move appears to have caused divisions within the organization, with some members accusing him of collaborating with the Department of State Services (DSS) to undermine the group.
He has been responsible for the declaration of civil disobedience order, also known as sit-at-home in the south eastern region.
The separatist leader’s actions have reportedly included threatening individuals who defy his orders. Additionally, he is believed to have played a role in instigating violence carried out by some hoodlums during sit-at-home days in the South East region.
These sit-at-home protests have led to unrest and affected innocent people in the area. The situation has further escalated tensions and concerns within the IPOB movement and its activities. IPOB has constantly dissociated itself from his activities, but Ekpa insists that his actions are geared towards ensuring speedy release of Kanu.
Powerful said, “Ekpa was prior to this period groomed by the Nigerian DSS to usurp the leadership of IPOB in 2016 but that evil plan failed woefully.
“Simon Ekpa was the same person as the faceless Okwudili that DSS created in 2016 as the new leader of IPOB, when our leader was in detention in 2016. Prior to this time, Simon was a hater of Ndigbo and particularly IPOB in Finland. IPOB members in Finland will attest to this.
“Simon Ekpa is the exclusive project of Nigerian DSS, to create a situation of unrest and hostilities in the South East which the end product was to destroy the image of IPOB.”
“Why is Nigeria government not making any effort to diplomatically engage Finnish Government about visible hostilities of Ekpa? Why did Nigeria suppress the Legal Investigation of Ekpa in Finland, also his court cases in Nigeria?”
“if the federal government was serious about ending Ekpa’s rascality in the zone, it would have ordered DSS to allow Kanu address his followers through his social media channels.
It also called on its members to discountenance Ekpa, while also challenging him to dish orders to IPOB members without using Kanu’s name, and see if anyone would listen to him.
