The recent murder of an Islamic cleric in Ebonyi State has been denied by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Sheikh Ibrahim Iyiorji, an Ebonyi State-born Muslim preacher who had converted to Islam, was recently assassinated there by unidentified assailants.
There were rumours that the IPOB may have committed the murder, but the organisation insisted that killing Muslims did not fall under their purview.
The group's spokesperson, Mr. Emma Powerful, claimed in a press release that killing a Muslim would not further their cause in their fight for the Biafra Republic.
"IPOB does not engage in such horrific crimes against humanity and cannot participate in such savage killings," the press release stated in part. Regardless of his or her religious beliefs, an Igbo man is not a target of IPOB's violence, nor are human beings.
"Key considerations to consider are: Why will IPOB execute this Igbo Muslim cleric? Is he a danger to the movement for Biafra? How many of our alleged foes have we already dispatched?
According to the group, Nigerian security agents enjoy orchestrating criminals' confessions in order to bring charges against them.
They also said that criminals labelled as "unknown gunmen" were not affiliated with IPOB because their acts were public and so could not be said to be secret.
Security personnel frequently use dishonest individuals and small-time criminals to fabricate accusations against IPOB members and ESN agents.
Since we began pursuing Biafra liberation, despite all provocations made in the name of unidentified shooters, IPOB and ESN have never killed any Army officers, Police officers, or DSS agents.
Because we are neither faceless nor cowardly, IPOB and ESN cannot be referred to as unknown gunmen because they are not concealing their activity. Before our adversaries, we are unafraid.