The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), who claim Simon Ekpa, leader of Auto-Pilot and the Biafra Government in Exile, is not a member of their organization, made an appeal to media outlets and social media platforms yesterday.
The pro-Biafra group expressed displeasure over what it called the deliberate linking and association of Ekpa’s activities by media outlets and social media platforms to IPoB in a statement by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful. He was never a registered member of the pro-Biafra group, and his activities are not in tandem with those of IPoB, the statement claimed.
The separatist movement noted that Ekpa is being used by the Nigerian secret police to destroy IPoB by linking his violent and other illegal activities with IPoB even though Ekpa has explicitly stated that IPoB is not a part of the group he leads. The separatist movement said it is aware of the coordinated efforts of the Department of State Services, DSS, and similar agencies to infiltrate, undermine, and divide IPoB with the sole objective of weakening the organization from within.
In a statement, IPoB stated, “It has become critically important that we appeal to media organizations, social media platforms, and platforms to be appropriately guided in reflecting the reality in their publications concerning linking Simon Ekpa’s violent and other illegal activities to IPoB when he is not our member and has publicly stated that the organizations he leads are Auto Pilot and the Biafra government in exile.”We have watched with dismay as some media outlets and social media sites have made conscious decisions to link Simon Ekpa’s violent and other actions to the illustrious Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, family.
For the avoidance of doubt and for the purpose of emphasis, Simon Ekpa is not affiliated with the Eastern Security Network, ESN, nor is he in any way registered with any IPOB unit. We want people to stop further connecting and associating Ekpa with IPoB and its operations moving forward. We have no connection to him and he is not one of our members. His actions are not now and never will be coordinated with those of IPoB.We are aware of the coordinated attempts being made by the DSS and other agencies to split and subvert IPoB with the aim of weakening the organization from within, but employing Ekpa, who is not a member of our organization and never will be, is one of the DSS’s unsuccessful strategies.
connected with initiatives aimed at criminalizing the South East’s social and political sphere. People who describe Ekpa as the IPoB’s factional leader are either mistaken, ignorant, or working to DSS’s advantage because they are his main backers and have the same goal of using criminals to destabilize the South East.”ESN is unaware of Ekpa. He is in no way associated with the ESN founded by IPoB despite the fact that he has been exploiting the ESN moniker to defraud trusting people through his repeated fundraising scams. Ekpa said that he is the leader of the covert Auto Pilot and Biafra Government in Exile.
He may be seen implying as much in the majority of his social media videos, despite neither being a member nor a leader of IPoB.
The fact that some media outlets have continued in claiming that Simon Ekpa is an IPoB member despite the obvious is concerning. We request that you avoid from referring to Ekpa as an IPoB member because he is not one of us, ladies and gentlemen of the media.
Share your thoughts