IPOB returns to battlefield

• Mobilise for boycott of 2019 elections southeast, demands referendum on Biafra Republic

The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has returned to the battlefield mobilizing for boycott of the 2019 general elections in the Southeast.

IPOD renewed advocacy for referendum on the Sovereign State of Biafra. The group further demanded immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and his unconditional release by the federal government.

IPOD members during protest in Owerri, Imo State, on Friday, which involved hundreds of half-naked female IPOB members’ cladded in black attire, reiterated their belief that Nigeria is “a failed country that does not hold any prospect for the Igbo.”

The irredentist IPOB threatened to disrupt the 2019 general elections in the Southeast states, the group cautioned that severe punishments will be meted out on those who will betray the renewed struggle for the actualization of the State of Biafra by conniving with “Nigerian agents to conduct elections in Igbo land”.

IPOD leaders accused Southeast governors and Ohaneze Ndigbo of complicity in the unprovoked killing of unarmed Biafra agitators by supporting military operations in the Southeast.

Some of the various placards displayed by the protesting women, had inscriptions such as, “no more election in Igbo land, we want Biafra”; “Nigeria is a fraud, we need Biafra”; “no more elections, we need a referendum”; “release Nnamdi Kanu now or face the wrath of God”; “we are tired of Nigeria”; etc.

National Daily further gathered that the protest in the early hours of Friday grounded vehicular and human movement along major streets in Owerri, while stern looking soldiers and mobile policemen were drafted to strategic locations to forestall breakdown of law and order.

IPOB went aground after days of military operations in the southeast tagged: Operation Python Dance, which also led to the disappearance of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu to unknown destination.