IPOB Reaffirms May 30 As Biafra Heroes Day, Rejects ‘Igbo Day’ Tag, Confirms Full Sit-at-Home he Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has stro...
IPOB Reaffirms May 30 As Biafra Heroes Day, Rejects ‘Igbo Day’ Tag, Confirms Full Sit-at-Home
he Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has strongly condemned ongoing efforts by what it described as “politically compromised charlatans” to rebrand the annual Biafra Heroes Day of May 30 as “Igbo Day,” warning that such attempts dishonour the memory of millions who died in the Biafran War.
In a statement issued on Sunday, IPOB’s spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful, insisted that May 30 remains sacrosanct as Biafra Heroes Day—a solemn day of remembrance for all who fell during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), irrespective of ethnic origin.
“Biafra is larger than any single ethnic group,” he said.
“Our martyrs hailed from Annang, Ibibio, Efik, Oron, Ijaw, Igbo and other nationalities that stood shoulder-to-shoulder when the world turned its back on us.”
IPOB said renaming the day as “Igbo Day” is a distortion of history and an insult to the broader coalition of peoples who fought and died under the Biafran banner. It described the proposed change as “the height of historical illiteracy.”
In a statement issued on Sunday, IPOB’s spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful, insisted that May 30 remains sacrosanct as Biafra Heroes Day—a solemn day of remembrance for all who fell during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), irrespective of ethnic origin.Nigerian fashion
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has strongly condemned ongoing efforts by what it described as “politically compromised charlatans” to rebrand the annual Biafra Heroes Day of May 30 as “Igbo Day,” warning that such attempts dishonour the memory of millions who died in the Biafran War.
In a statement issued on Sunday, IPOB’s spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful, insisted that May 30 remains sacrosanct as Biafra Heroes Day—a solemn day of remembrance for all who fell during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), irrespective of ethnic origin.
Nigerian fashion
“Biafra is larger than any single ethnic group,” he said.
“Our martyrs hailed from Annang, Ibibio, Efik, Oron, Ijaw, Igbo and other nationalities that stood shoulder-to-shoulder when the world turned its back on us.”
IPOB said renaming the day as “Igbo Day” is a distortion of history and an insult to the broader coalition of peoples who fought and died under the Biafran banner. It described the proposed change as “the height of historical illiteracy.”
Referencing ancient maps and the 1967 declaration of Biafra, IPOB asserted that the name “Biafra” is “non-negotiable” and predates even the colonial creation of Nigeria.
“It is a sacred trust etched in the blood of over three million souls,” IPOB said. “No arm-chair mouthpiece hiding behind the tattered cloak of ‘Ohanaeze faction communiqués’ possesses either the mandate or the moral stature to tinker with it.”
The separatist group described Heroes Day as a “solemn covenant of remembrance,” likening it to Europe’s annual VE-Day commemorations. It warned those seeking to politicise or dilute its meaning to “restrict themselves to the corridors of Nigerian politics where sycophancy is the currency of transaction.”
Issuing what it called a “final warning,” IPOB said it would not engage in further rebuttals with those trying to redefine the memorial.
“Those who subsist on government stipends would do well to redirect their energies to the praise-singing that pays their rent and cease desecrating the blood-soaked legacy of our Heroes,” the group stated.
IPOB confirmed that it would observe its traditional full sit-at-home on May 30, 2025, across Biafran territories and in the diaspora, with activities including prayers, lectures and candlelight vigils.
The statement ended with a pointed declaration: “In the end, history remembers the steadfast, not the sycophant.”
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