IPOB Slams Tinubu’s Independence Day Speech as Hateful, Accuses President of Anti-Igbo Bias

 IPOB Slams Tinubu’s Independence Day Speech as Hateful, Accuses President of Anti-Igbo Bias In a fiery press release issued on October 1, 2...

 IPOB Slams Tinubu’s Independence Day Speech as Hateful, Accuses President of Anti-Igbo Bias

In a fiery press release issued on October 1, 2025, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, rejected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Independence Day speech, labeling it “divisive” and “hate-filled.” IPOB accused the president of falsely equating their movement with the terrorist organization Boko Haram while ignoring other violent groups such as ISWAP, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, and Lakaruwa. According to IPOB, Tinubu’s selective focus signals a deliberate attempt to vilify the Igbo people while exonerating other perpetrators of violence in Nigeria.

IPOB’s statement, signed by Comrade Emma Powerful, Media and Publicity Secretary, vehemently disputes Tinubu’s portrayal of the self-determination movement as a terrorist organization. The release emphasizes that IPOB is a peaceful, globally recognized movement dedicated to achieving self-determination for the Biafran people through nonviolent means. “Not a single shred of verifiable evidence has ever been presented in any court of law linking IPOB or our leader to terrorism, kidnapping, or killings,” the statement asserts.

IPOB points to a 2017 Federal High Court ruling in Abuja that explicitly declared IPOB is not a terrorist organization, a judgment they note has never been overturned. IPOB dismisses the government’s 2017 proscription of the group as an invalid “exparte order,” arguing that it lacks legal weight and has been used as a pretext for “mayhem, massacres, and extrajudicial killings” against unarmed Biafrans. The press release questions Tinubu’s integrity, noting that as someone “supposedly educated in the United States,” he should understand the illegality of proscribing a mass movement without due process.

A central theme of IPOB’s response is the accusation of hypocrisy in Tinubu’s administration. The movement contrasts the president’s harsh rhetoric against IPOB with his government’s apparent leniency toward Fulani herdsmen, whom IPOB accuse of “daily terrorizing citizens” across states like Kwara, Plateau, Benue, and Enugu. While these attacks are often downplayed as “farmer-herder clashes,” IPOB argues, peaceful Igbo protests are swiftly labeled as terrorism. This double standard, they claim, exposes Tinubu’s “deep-seated prejudice against the Igbo race.”

The statement further alleges that Tinubu’s focus on IPOB is influenced by external forces, including “the British” and Igbo politicians who act as “quislings” betraying their own people. IPOB points to the deteriorating security situation in Kwara State, which they claim has been “overrun by the real terrorists from Janjaweed territories,” as evidence of the government’s misplaced priorities.

IPOB reserves some of its sharpest criticism for Igbo political leaders, whom they describe as “weak, spineless errand boys of Abuja” and “Efulefus without conscience.” The self-determination movement accuses these leaders of enabling Tinubu’s attacks on IPOB by failing to defend their people and even inviting the president to Igboland to “dance on the graves of their own people.” The statement warns that history will judge these politicians harshly for their complicity in the marginalization of the Igbo.

Reaffirming their stance, IPOB declares, “We are not Boko Haram, not ISWAP, not Al-Qaeda. We are a people struggling for our survival in the face of state-sponsored genocide.” IPOB highlights the continued detention of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in a Department of State Services (DSS) facility, despite multiple court rulings ordering his release. They challenge Tinubu to uphold justice by complying with these court orders rather than spreading “lies” about their movement.

IPOB also appeals to the international community, urging the world to take note of what they describe as Tinubu’s attempt to “criminalize an entire nation through the backdoor of state propaganda.” IPOB frames their struggle for Biafran liberation as a “just cause rooted in truth, justice, and international law,” vowing that no amount of blackmail will deter their resolve.

Implications for Nigeria’s Unity

The press release underscores the deep-seated ethnic tensions and mistrust between IPOB and the Nigerian government, reflecting broader challenges in addressing self determination movements and ethnic grievances in the country. By framing Tinubu’s speech as an attack on the Igbo people, 

IPOB’s rejection of Tinubu’s speech highlights the ongoing conflict between the movement and the Nigerian government, rooted in historical grievances dating back to the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970). The detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the broader issue of Igbo marginalization remains contentious issues that show no signs of resolution. 

Family Writers Press International.