IPOB gives Imo Police 7 days ultimatum to retract allegations of Mbano killings or face lawsuitPublished 10 hours ago on July 27, 2025By Ripples Nigeria
Proscribed Igbo separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has threatened to take legal action against the Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Danjuma Aboki, and the state police command if they do not retract an alleged defamatory statement linking the group with the recent killings in Ehime Mbano local government area of the state.
Gunmen had, on Wednesday, July 23, laid siege on the Umualuaku community in the council, unleashing hours of continuous gunfire on the community, killing several people leading to panic and pandemonium in the community.
After the incident, the state police spokesman, ASP Henry Okoye, in a statement, had alleged that the attackers were suspected members of IPOB and its militia arm, the ESN.
But in a statement on Saturday debunking the allegations by its Director of Media and Publicity, Emma Powerful, IPOB gave Aboki seven days to withdraw the statement and issue a public apology over the alleged falsehood or face legal action.
In the statement, IPOB accused the Federal Government and Nigerian security agencies of orchestrating the massacre of civilians in Mbano, alleging it was a deliberate move to discredit the group and suppress the Biafra agitation.
He also blamed the state police command of hastily blaming IPOB and ESN over the attack without any credible evidence or investigation.
Powerful also described the accusations as part of a long-standing pattern of state-backed violence aimed at silencing the Biafra movement.
“This is a tired, manufactured narrative that now serves as a cover for state-sanctioned mass murder and political manipulation,” Powerful said in the statement.
“Each time the legal arguments for the release of our leader gain momentum, the Nigerian state resorts to violence and bloodshed in the Southeast.
“These killings are then cynically weaponized to discredit IPOB, divert public attention, and manufacture consent for continued illegal detention and persecution.
“We state categorically that IPOB is not involved in any such violence. Mr. Aboki’s actions are defamatory, inciteful, and malicious. They violate the presumption of innocence and are part of a broader propaganda campaign to derail our peaceful advocacy.
“If he fails to retract these lies within 7 days, IPOB will drag him to court and hold him personally liable for reputational damage and criminal defamation under Nigerian law.
“Let the world take note: the slaughter of the innocent in Igboland will never be forgotten. We hold the Nigerian state and its collaborators in the Southeast responsible.
“We reject these false attributions, and we challenge the Nigerian police to present evidence in a court of law, not press statements, if indeed IPOB or ESN is culpable
