Nigeria traces IPOB’s funding to France
Yesterday, the federal government of Nigeria hinted that it has traced the financial headquarters of indigenous people of biafra (IPOB) to France, confirming that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the process of proscribing the group.
According to the Leadership Newspaper, the minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who gave the hint after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa, maintained his earlier position that some politically-disgruntled persons and treasury looters were the ones sponsoring IPOB.
Against this background, the Minister commended governors of the South East states for making it clear to IPOB that it has no support for its violent campaign, saying by their action, the governors have cut off the oxygen that IPOB needed to survive.
In the statement of the Minister, if the elected governors of all the states in the South East have banned the activities of IPOB, then the organisation can no more claim it is fighting for anybody.
Stating that IPOB’s headquarters is in France, Mohammed said, “We have the records; we know IPOB collects money from many people from the diaspora. They collect money from many people in Nigeria; they collect money from some foreign countries. This is clear.
“Let me tell you, the financial headquarters is in France. We know but can you as a government stop sending money to your parents? You have to block the sources of finance. That is what I said recently. It is incontrovertible that some people in the diaspora contribute money to IPOB. Where does he get his money from? We know this as a fact.
“Again, there are a few very naughty diplomatic issues which you need to skip. For instance, who does not know that the IPOB internal radio is located in London? We know the diplomatic moves we have been taking and approaching the UK. All the damages that are done but they don’t see it that way. For them, it is about freedom of expression.
“If we have a person in Nigeria openly soliciting arms to come and fight the UK, what would you think of? Would you consider that freedom of expression? This is a country that also has had a history. What did IRA do to be labeled a terrorists organisation? They were planting bombs; they were fighting the British Army. I don’t want any diplomatic row; we know for a fact where the funding is coming from and we are going to stop them but it is difficult to stop them and we have been working on it and we will not stop”.