IPOB Faults Financial Times on Biafra and Nigeria

IPOB Faults Financial Times on Biafra and Nigeria

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has blasted as unprofessional and misleading, the report of Financial Times of London on the activities of the group and what they portend ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

According to IPOB, the report on FT was not only contrary to the “ethics of investigative professional journalism” but their headline “Echoes of Biafra war as Nigeria looks to polls” was misleading, Vanguard writes.

“This unprofessional conduct calls for holistic review on the part of the proprietors of the Financial Times. It is our position that had a reputable media organisation like Financial Times embarked on investigating their sources of information before hand, they would have been well-informed of the fact that IPOB is non-violent in their quest for restoration of Biafra,” the statement read.

“Does it mean that the editors of Financial Times did not see and, in fact, know that Nnamdi Kanu is not in hiding but instead was taken away by the army when they stormed his home and killed 28 people? Did they not see the bullet riddled house and damage done to his family home? Are they not aware of the existence of a video taped interview clearly showing the Defence Minister of Nigeria, Mansur Dan Ali, admitting that they sent soldiers to Kanu’s home? “Where went the conscience of the highly revered editors of this reputable publishing giant before they authorised this misleading report?

“Although, we are aware that Financial Times is under intense and sustained pressure from powerful UK-based lobbyists, laundering Nigeria’s image to distort and twist every news on Biafra to their advantage, we call on the editors of Financial Times to act responsibly now by retracting their wholly misleading and unprofessional report of the status of IPOB and its leader.”

The separatist group warned that FT risked falling into the category of “Fake News” if they didn’t retract the story or rectify the “monumental errors” in it.

IPOB has been on the back foot since it’s leader Nnamdi Kanu went missing after soldiers raided his home in September.

The separatists had threatened that there’ll be no polls in the entire south-east region, but it proved an empty threat after the recently concluded LG elections in Enugu State and the coming gubernatorial polls in Anambra.