IPOB members in a demonstration

Nigerian military authorities on Friday said Biafra secessionist group, the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) metamorphosed into a “terrorist group.”

The Military, through a statement by Major General Paul Eneche, spokesperson for Defence Headquarters said the new catergorisation of the group followed ‘professional analysis and recent developments’ which revealed that the   claim by IPOB actors that it is non violent is not true.

In the statement, the military listed seven reasons why IPOB can now be regarded as a terrorist group. See the seven reasons below:

1. The formation of a Biafra Secret Service.

2. Claimed formation of Biafra National Guard.

3. Unauthorised blocking of public access roads.

4. Extortion of money from innocent civilians at illegal road blocks.

5. Militant possession and use of weapons (stones, molotov cocktails, machetes and broken bottles among others) on a military patrol on 10 September 2017.

6. Physical confrontation of troops by Nnamdi Kanu and other IPOB actors at a check point on 11 September 2017 and also attempts to snatch their rifles.

7. Attack by IPOB members, on a military check point on 12 September 2017, at Isialangwa, where one IPOB actor attempted to snatch a female soldier’s rifle.