IPOB To Gov Soludo: Your Reckless Comments Have Betrayed The Igbo

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra IPOB, on Thursday, July 10, 2025 strongly rejected Governor  Chukwuma Soludo’s claim that  90.9 % of kidnappings, terrorists attacks and other criminal activities in the South East region are the handiwork of Igbo sons and not that of rogue Fulani herdsmen.

At a town hall meeting of Anambra state indigenes in Maryland, United States of America, last week,  Governor Soludo told his audience that statistics have shown that over 99.9 percent of kidnappers ,and other criminal elements in the state within his three years in office are by people of Igbo extraction.

This is as he vehemently condemned the widely held assumption that most of the killings , kidnappings, and other violent criminal activities are perpetrated by the Fulani herdsmen.

To buttress his position, the Anambra State Governor insisted that it would be practically untenable for criminal elements ,and the “so called liberators ” to successfully reside in and operate from the forests without the active connivance and collaboration of locals and or even the communities.

According to him, it amounts to begging the question and standing logic on the head to assume and propagate the idea that strangers could operate terrorists camps within the South East region successfully without the active support of the Indigenous People .

“Let us stop deceiving ourselves. Ask yourself how these so-called liberators survive in the forests without community backing.

“The acclaimed freedom fighters are in the real sense young Igbo men, mostly youth engaged in criminal activities for financial gains”, Soludo stated.

But the IPOB in a statement on Thursday signed by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, described the remarks credited to Governor Soludo as utterly and disgustingly reckless and ,unsupported by facts .

According to the group, the Governor’s statement is part of the wider sinister agenda of provoking unwarranted attacks and hounding of innocent youths in the region by the authorities and security forces.

The IPOB warned that such unsubstantiated claims by people like Governor Soludo are just what the Nigerian and security authorities need to engage in unjust and arbitrary arrests of and violence against innocent individuals in the South East region.

:Governor Soludo’s unguarded and thoughtless statement may embolden and ultimately promote military operations ,and Fulani-sponsored militias to further engage in acts of violence against the people”, the IPOB warned  .

The IPOB accused the  Governor of only pandering to some interests ,and oppressive outsiders  for political and pecuniary gains while ignoring the existential threats posed to the people of Anambra and other South East states by activities of herdsmen and other terrorists groups.

“This public utterance made without any iota of investigative backing has now become the green light for the Nigerian security agencies ,and Fulani-sponsored terror militias to commence another round of massacre and abductions of innocent youths across the South East”  IPOB warned .

However, the group said it’s not all that surprised at the latest anti-people stance of  the  Governor as it is in tandem with his well documented inconsistent position on the plight of its detained leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

The group while acknowledging some occasions where the Governor had called for the release of Kanu,  however noted that his recent posture portray’s a serious contradiction of his past efforts.