By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was set up by the Coalition of the Politically Disgruntled and the Treasury Looters to trigger chaos in order to realize their ambition of escaping justice.
He said they are doing this under the guise of fighting for the rights of the people of the South-east where as in reality their aim is to destabilize the nation and to sabotage the Buhari Administration
The minister disclosed this at a press conference in Lagos, a statement by his office said.
Alhaji Mohammed said IPOB was set up as a tool to destabilize the nation and divert attention from the efforts of the Buhari Administration.
He said the group is being sponsored by “the Coalition of the Politically Disgruntled and the Treasury Looters. “They believe that by sponsoring this group to destabilize the country and trigger chaos, they will realize their ambition of escaping justice and then be free to dip their hands into the nation’s treasury again.”
Alhaji Mohammed, who wondered why the activities of IPOB became heightened with the advent of this Administration, said: ‘’If this is coincidental, then that coincidence is uncanny, at the least.
According to him, “Remember that Nnamdi Kanu, who led a protest at the Nigeria House in London against Boko Haram insurgency and in support of Nigeria’s unity, under the Jonathan Administration, has suddenly metamorphosed into an IPOB monster who will rather set the nation ablaze.’’
The Minister also said IPOB thrived on exploiting the nation’s fault lines and that its modus operandi ‘’is to trigger conflagration nationwide through attacks and reprisals’’.
Alhaji Mohammed accused IPOB of harvesting gory videos from the distant past and from other lands to deceive the international community that the people of the South-east are victims of state-sponsored ethno-sectarian violence, describing such tactics as ‘’lies and propaganda’’.
He therefore appealed to the media to show greater restraint and avoid sensationalism in their reporting of the military exercise, Operation Python Dance II, in the South-east.
‘‘The divisive and jaundiced opinions of some anarchists have been given a big play by a section of the media. This is wrong. Let me remind all of us of the role of the media, especially the radio, in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that left about 800,000 people dead,’’ he said.
Also Mohammed noted that the Nigerian media cannot afford to engage in irresponsible journalism when the issue at stake is the very survival of the nation.
He also commended the Nigerian military for labeling IPOB a terrorist organization and checkmating the group, and the South-east Governors for proscribing the organization.