The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has reaffirmed that May 30 remains exclusively recognized as Biafra Heroes Day, warning against any efforts to rebrand it as “Igbo Day.”
In a statement released Sunday, IPOB spokesperson Comrade Emma Powerful condemned attempts by what he called “politically compromised charlatans” to alter the historical identity of the remembrance day, calling such moves a “distortion of history” and an affront to those who died during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970).
“Our martyrs hailed from Annang, Ibibio, Efik, Oron, Ijaw, Igbo and other nationalities,” he said. “Biafra is larger than any single ethnic group.”
IPOB described the proposed renaming as a deliberate erasure of the collective legacy of those who fought under the Biafran flag. It asserted that the name “Biafra” predates colonial Nigeria and remains a “sacred trust etched in the blood of over three million souls.”
Comparing May 30 to Europe’s VE-Day, IPOB emphasized that Biafra Heroes Day is a solemn remembrance, not a political celebration.
“Those trying to tinker with it should stay in the corridors of Nigerian politics,” the group warned.
The organization declared a full sit-at-home across Biafran territories and the diaspora on May 30, with planned activities including prayers, lectures, and candlelight vigils.
IPOB concluded its statement with a firm message: “In the end, history remembers the steadfast, not the sycophant.”
