The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has lampooned Major General Michael Onoja, Army’s Director of Media Operations, over claim that criminal activities have subsided in the South East following Simon Ekpa’s imprisonment in Finland and a recent Federal High Court, Abuja ruling against Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement issued this morning (Thursday, January 2, 2026) by the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB accused Major General Onoja of “reciting recycled propaganda”, urging him to “instead explain why the Nigerian state is terrified of the truth.”
According to the IPOB, if, indeed, security has subsided in the South East, it is because having seemingly achieved their sinister objective of blackmailing the IPOB as cause of insecurity in the South East, and unlawfully jailing Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader, the government felt satisfied enough with the “success” of its own malicious designs in the South East to pull back its agents of insecurity in the region.
“For years, IPOB has publicly and repeatedly demanded a full, open, internationally supervised inquiry into the insecurity in the South-East — headed by an impartial judge, preferably from South Africa, beyond the reach of Nigerian political manipulation. Yet, Abuja refuses. Why? What are the Nigerian government and its British handlers afraid of?” IPOB charged.
The pro-Biafra group accused the Nigerian military of having skeletons in its cupboard with regard to the insecurity in the South East, which it claims was contrived by the Nigerian state, otherwise, “if it is so confident in its narrative, then let the world see the evidence under oath, in the open, with witnesses protected and cross-examined.”
“We have nothing to hide,” the group declared. “Can the Nigerian government say the same?
IPOB has consistently called on the United States, the United Nations, the African Union, and
the European Union to support an independent commission of inquiry into the killings, disappearances, kidnappings, staged crimes, and deliberate destabilisation of the South-East. The refusal to allow such an inquiry speaks louder than any military press briefing.”
Recalling that the Nigerian military had turned civilians into targets” in the zone long before IPOB became the government’s convenient excuse for “security operations” in the South East, “before IPOB was blamed,” IPOB referred the public to a few examples of what the group described as “cowardly, dastardly” military operations against civilian targets in parts of Nigeria in the past 10 years.
“History is not erased by propaganda,” IPOB quipped, recalling that on May 30, 2016, the military had “massacred” unarmed civilians at Nkpor, Anambra State, on ’30th May (Biafran) Heroes Remembrance Day’ and equally “slaughtered” unarmed civilians at Aba National High School.
“Troops also massacred civilians at pro-Trump rally in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital in January 2017; invaded Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s home in September 2017, killing 28 people in the process; massacred nearly 1,000 Shiite Muslims in Zaria, Kaduna State in 2015 and killed many #EndSARS protesters at Lekki Toll Gate in October 2020,” IPOB recalled. “These were not “security operations; they were state violence against unarmed civilians.”
“Even General T.Y. Danjuma warned that sections of the Nigerian military have colluded with killers. Are we now to believe Major General Onoja is wiser than Danjuma — or simply more willing to lie?” IPOB sniggered, insisting that insecurity in the South East was, for years, instigated “corrupt politicians and complicit security actors-cultivated militias, cult gangs, and criminal networks, who then turned around to blame IPOB when chaos spiraled.”
“This is not security strategy,” IPOB emphasized. “It is deflection, scapegoating, and cowardice. The ruling APC and the opposition PDP — the same political class rotating power and corruption between themselves — presided over the collapse of security nationwide. Their record speaks for itself.
“To brand IPOB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as “terrorists” while ignoring state-engineered violence is moral fraud. The world is beginning to understand that the Nigerian government and elements within its security forces have repeatedly behaved like the very thing they claim to be fighting.”
To clear this moral confusion and apportion blame where it is due, IPOB called for:
- A public, judge-led inquiry into insecurity in the South-East — chaired by a respected foreign jurist.
- Full access to records, security directives, intercepted communications, and witness testimony.
- International participation and oversight, with guaranteed protection for whistleblowers.
- The immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, whose unlawful detention sits at the heart of this manufactured crisis.
“If Nigeria has nothing to hide, it should welcome scrutiny. Until then, no amount of military press conferences, British-crafted talking points, or Abuja spin machines can bury the truth: The Nigerian state is not afraid of IPOB. It is afraid of being exposed. History is patient. And history always catches up,” the Biafra self-determination group,” warned.
