IPOB accuses Punch of “malicious falsehood”, denies existence of “ESN/IPOB camp dismantled by police, allied security forces”
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has described as “malicious falsehood” a report published in Punch newspaper and written by Ikenna Obianeri, alleging that police and allied security forces dismantled an “ESN/IPOB camp” in Aguluezechukwu, Aguata LGA, Anambra State.
In a statement issued on Thursday (yesterday, September 4) by the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB denied the existence of such a camp allegedly belonging to the group, insisting that if any camp was dismantled at all, it would be nothing more than the security agents routing criminals in their hideout in a part of Anambra State.
According to the statement by Powerful, the Punch report came as part of the orchestrated efforts over time by a section of the press to criminalise the IPOB for tribal political interests, assuring that such efforts would always be dead on arrival, because IPOB/ESN, the statement stressed, are a peaceful group whose only interest is in the restoration of Biafra and protection of the land and people from attacks and killings by foreign invaders whose murderous imprints are all over the country for people to see, not in carrying out criminal activities for whatever the motive the security agencies may conjure up for the group.
“We categorically state that this report is fabricated propaganda. Punch newspaper has, once again, reduced itself to a mouthpiece of the Nigerian government by parroting unverified claims designed to smear IPOB. No evidence has been presented, no independent investigation carried out, and no attempt made to verify from the community or from IPOB. Instead, Punch chose to peddle fiction as fact,” IPOB sneered in the release by Powerful.
“If the Nigerian Police or their partners in the media have any credible evidence, they should tender it in a competent court of law. Instead, Punch has chosen to insult the intelligence of Nigerians and the global community with this disgraceful hatchet job.”
The self-determination group chided the Lagos-based newspaper over its claim to being “a national newspaper”, insisting that Punch “has abandoned investigative journalism.”
“Its reporters sit in Lagos and Abuja, recycling government handouts, rather than visiting Anambra or Imo to confirm the truth. IPOB is prepared to sponsor investigative teams from Punch and other outlets to travel to the East and investigate on the ground—if indeed they are interested in journalism and not propaganda,” IPOB offered.
“We state without equivocation that the said publication is a malicious falsehood. If the Nigerian Police or their media collaborators have any credible evidence of such a “camp,” they should present it in a court of law instead of insulting public intelligence with fiction.
“This lazy journalism and reckless peddling of propaganda underscore the moral bankruptcy of some Nigerian media houses. They have abandoned the sacred duty of investigative reporting and instead act as mouthpieces for a regime bent on ethnic demonization. IPOB is prepared to sponsor investigative teams from Punch, Daily Trust, The Nation, and Premium Times to travel to the East and see the truth for themselves, instead of regurgitating propaganda from security agencies.
“The shameful report by Punch is not journalism. It is ethnic propaganda, it is dangerous, and it exposes Punch as complicit in the wider agenda of demonizing Biafra and IPOB. IPOB will henceforth call out, by name, every rogue outlet and journalist that engages in this deliberate misinformation campaign.”
Let it be known: IPOB remains whiter than white. No amount of Punch newspaper’s propaganda can taint our cause, which is rooted in justice, self-determination and justice,” the pro-Biafra group surmised.
