The Nigerian Presidency has listed reasons why it brought down the hammer on Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) while appearing to ignore the activities of rampaging Fulani herdsmen.
According to the presidency, IPOB had clear tendencies of a terrorist group while the herdsmen were just a criminal group.
The clarifications were made by President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide Garba Shehu in an interview with Nigerian Tribune published on Saturday, September 23.
According to Shehu, comparing IPOB to the herdsmen is like ‘comparing apples with paw paws’.
Explaining further, Shehu gave five reasons why the federal government deemed IPOB more dangerous than Fulani herdsmen.
1. State Declaration
IPOB declared the state of Biafra. He said: “The herdsmen, no matter how criminal their actions, have never declared a sovereign state within Nigeria.”
2. Holding Nigerian Territories
According to Shehu, IPOB was holding on to Nigerian territories and making moves to take more. “They don’t have territorial ambitions. IPOB on the other has put us on notice that they want to take Kogi, Benue, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta!”
3. Flags
Shehu also noted that the pro-Biafra secessionists had flags like terrorist groups
4. Passports
The presidential aide also made allusion to the creation of embassies across the world by IPOB. He said: “The Fulani don’t have flags or national passports”
5. Biafra Secret Service
Shehu also noted that unlike Fulani herdsmen, IPOB had standing military and secret service officials “They (Fulani herdsmen) don’t boast of a secret service or of building their own army.”
The presidential aide ended it with the declaration that all the above reasons made IPOB sound “more like Boko Haram to me than the herdsmen”.
