The Institute for Economics and Peace, IEP, says the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB, is a pro-Biafra secessionist movement, not a terrorist group.
The clarification is coming about a week after the institute ranked IPOB as the tenth deadliest terrorist group in the world in its Global Terrorism Index, GTI, report.
IEP, in a statement published yesterday, described IPOB as a secessionist movement that aims to establish an independent state of Biafra and absolved the group of responsibility for the violent attacks in South East Nigeria orchestrated by its paramilitary wing, the Eastern Security Network, ESN.
The statement reads, “The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a pro-Biafra secessionist movement based in Southeast Nigeria that aims to establish an independent state of Biafra.
“IPOB was proscribed as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government in 2017. In recent years, IPOB has been linked to several attacks, which have been attributed to its paramilitary wing, the Eastern Security Network (IPOB-ESN). The group has not claimed responsibility for any of these attacks.
“It is important therefore to differentiate between the peaceful activities of the group and its alleged involvement in violent activity.”
The Institute noted that the GTI 2023 report has been updated to reflect the important clarification.
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