Pro-Biafra organization, Biafra Nations League (BNL), headed by Princewill Richards, on Thursday said his group owes nobody an apology concerning its alliance with diaspora-based separatist, Simon Ekpa and his Autopilot faction of IPOB.
In a statement on its official Facebook page, BnL said Ekpa’s IPOB faction acknowledges and respects its ‘works’, hence the decision to enter a collaboration with the group.
IPOB, the Indigenous People of Biafra, is a leading pro-Biafra group in Nigeria, led by UK-based Nnamdi Kanu.
IPOB was proscribed by the Nigerian government in 2017 while Kanu was rearrested in June 2021, and has since remained in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja.
Ekpa has been accused severally of being responsible for instigating violence in Nigeria’s Southeast region, especially since Kanu’s arrest.
He has been linked with the activities of assailants killing citizens mindlessly in Igboland.
“Two days ago, we posted about our alliance with Mazi Simon Ekpa who organized a zoom meeting between BnL and himself and Umuada in the autopilot IPOB, ever since we made the post some miscreants started bombarding our page with unpleasant comments.
“First of all, we owe no one any apology for accepting collaboration with him and his team of autopilot,” the BnL said.
“We also do not owe anyone explanations but for the sake of our followers we want to use this medium to explain a bit, is not compulsory, but it’s necessary we clear the air.
“Now you have to understand that BnL is decisive as we don’t operate under the leadership of IPOB but the leadership of BnL, and so we don’t need to seek approval from the IPOB DOS to collaborate with whoever we so chose to work with, we are also not taking sides on whatever might have transpired between the IPOB DOS and the autopilot, we are not involved in it and do not wish to be involved in whatever misunderstanding that ensued among them.
“The DOS have been seeing us and how we have relentlessly fighting for Biafra and as well demanding the release of Mr Nnamdi Kanu through our activities around the borders and in the Gulf of Guinea, as a supposed leadership of IPOB what stopped them from reaching out to BnL since decades, this reminds us of the same situation in 2016 when Kanu was first arrested and our gallant men was able to hijack an oil vessel along the Bakassi Peninsula coastal line with crew members, demanding an exchange for the release of the IPOB leader, the former DOS (Omiomio, Clifford Iroanya, Emma Mmezu and co) and former Deputy Uche Mefor ignored our actions and never tried to reach out to us, instead money exchanged hand between them and Niger Delta Avengers a political formation that is no longer existing.
“And you want BnL, to bow for people who do not give a damn about us and pretending not to see what we are doing.
“We understand that autopilot came as result of the willingness of many people to sit at home without being forced to do so, and we understand that it was named autopilot, many who supported Monday sit at home moved to identify themselves as autopilot which Mr Ekpa promoted and now championing.
“May God help you bunch of agents of division in Biafraland.
“We have no apology to tender over our working alliance with the autopilot team.
“Note that we are not against anybody or group of people fighting for Biafra. Everybody should do their own. Thanks.”
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