US Based Groups Fault President Tinubu For Comparing IPOB To Boko Haram
2A coalition of United States-based civil society organisations has condemned recent remarks by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in which he reportedly equated the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) with the terrorist group Boko Haram.
In a joint press statement, Advocates for Victims of Injustice and Discrimination and Rising Sun Ambassadors for Self-Determination expressed concern over what they described as a “false, inflammatory, and prejudicial” statement by the president, particularly as IPOB's legal appeal is still pending before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, continues to face trial before Justice James Omotosho at the Federal High Court.
The groups stated that President Tinubu’s remarks were not only sub judice, but amounted to an attempt to “poison the atmosphere of justice, intimidate the judiciary, and prejudice ongoing proceedings.”
They advised the president to focus his attention on tackling insecurity across the country, particularly the activities of Fulani herdsmen, armed bandits, and other violent groups, rather than being “obsessed” with IPOB which they described as a non violent self determination movement.
They added that “envy and jealousy of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s popularity” would not silence the separatist leader, claiming that each day of his continued detention only boosts his influence and support among millions of followers globally.
In the same statement, the groups called on the United States Congress and the U.S. Department of State to declassify and publicly release President Tinubu’s full records including immigration, financial, criminal, and educational documents in the interest of transparency and accountability.
They also urged the Canadian government to gazette and enforce a Canadian court’s reported designation of Nigeria’s two main political parties the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as terrorist organisations, citing longstanding allegations of electoral violence and militia sponsorship.
The coalition concluded by urging the international community to
Condemn President Tinubu’s remarks as prejudicial and
Demand the immediate and unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, who they noted has already been discharged and acquitted by a court on jurisdictional grounds.