IPOB: We’re not responsible for explosion at Wike father’s church

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) says it is not responsible for the attack of a church said to belong to the father of Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers.

The Christian Universal Church located at Azikwe Street in Diobu area of Port Harcourt, the Rivers Capital, was reportedly attacked by five persons, but two of them were apprehended by youth and security officers.

J.N.E. Wike is the general overseer of the church.

Reacting to insinuations that the group is responsible for the attack, IPOB said it knows nothing about the said attack.

“The attention of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), ably led by our great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been drawn to the fabricated and state-sponsored propaganda peddled by Nyesom Wike and his co-travellers that peaceful and innocent members of IPOB are responsible for an alleged attack on his father’s building on Saturday night,” a statement released by Emma Powerful, its media and publicity secretary, read.

“We want to state categorically and for record purposes that IPOB knows nothing about the said purported attack. We do not indulge in explosive devices and we do not have any intentions to do so in the near future.

“We have said it on numerous occasions that violence is not part of the agenda in our quest to restore Biafra. Any day we decide to take up arms against the state, which is not in our immediate contemplation, it won’t be done in secret.”

IPOB accused Wike of peddling “outlandish lies” against the group, claiming that the governor is desperate to demonise the group to justify a violent narrative.

The group said: “IPOB is an unblemished peaceful movement with a legally recognisable presence in over 100 countries of the world without any trace of violence. Our mandate remains the peaceful restoration of Biafra”.

“The whole world is now aware of the heinous crimes against humanity committed by Gov Wike against innocent Biafrans living in Obigbo Rivers State. Wike and co used the nationwide disturbances that trailed the EndSars protests as a cover to murder hundreds of innocent men, women and children in Obigbo Rivers State. He never denied it, in fact, he boasted about it during his numerous televised interviews.

“We have since left vengeance in the hands of Almighty God. A government steeped in subterfuge and grand deception could have orchestrated the said attack on the church as a way to further demonise IPOB in Wike’s desperate quest to justify the ongoing open genocide against indigenous Igbo populations, especially Biafran Jews in Obigbo.

“We seek to advise the Nigerian Police and Nyesom Wike to stop peddling outlandish lies in the mould of Lai Mohammed. Wike used a mere concocted allegation and without recourse to judicial process, to unleash another round of genocide on Biafran soil in Oyigbo. For that, he would never ever be forgiven. No matter how long the truth is covered and suppressed it must certainly surface in the end. All those trying to create a scenario to implicate IPOB shall never escape divine justice.”