The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is a result of divine wrath, claiming that the continued detention and persecution of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is the spiritual cause behind the country’s turmoil.
In a statement issued over the weekend by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB called the present wave of violence in the country a direct consequence of rejecting what it described as a “prophet sent by God.” The statement follows the resurgence of deadly attacks in the Middle Belt, including Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna.
“A nation that rejects its redeemer must prepare to meet its ruin,” the group said. “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a man sent by Divine Will to warn and save the indigenous peoples of Nigeria from the coming darkness, was mocked, vilified, abducted, tortured, and detained. Now the land groans with blood and agony, and Nigeria must drink the bitter cup she has poured.”
Emma Powerful accused the Department of State Services (DSS) and sections of the mainstream media of working together to tarnish Kanu’s image. “The shameless lies currently being peddled by a morally bankrupt press—led by brown-envelope journalists and instructed by the Janjaweed-controlled Ministry of Information—claim that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu incited violence in the Southeast,” he stated.
He described such accusations as “satanic propaganda” aimed at shifting attention from the real perpetrators of violence in Nigeria. “This satanic propaganda, issued in concert with DSS agents of death and destruction, is designed to blind the world from the real carnage—the butchering of Nigerian citizens by bloodthirsty, foreign-backed Fulani herdsmen masquerading as pasture-seeking nomads,” the statement added.
Emma Powerful argued that instead of encouraging war, Kanu advocated for a peaceful referendum and self-determination. “He called for a peaceful referendum, not war. He preached self-determination, not terror. Yet, instead of heeding his prophetic voice, Nigeria conspired with foreign collaborators to kidnap him in a foreign land, in defiance of international law and the African Charter,” he said.
Drawing parallels between the deteriorating security situation and Kanu’s warnings, IPOB insisted the current crises affirm his prophetic role. “While the compromised media obsesses over Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB, Benue burns. Plateau bleeds. Southern Kaduna is razed,” it read. “Entire communities have been wiped out and replaced by armed invaders from the Sahel, emboldened by silence from security agencies and complicity from the Nigerian state.”
The group said nothing short of a national apology—both public and private—to Nnamdi Kanu would resolve the situation. “Until Nigerians—both individually and collectively—fall to their knees, confess their betrayal, and publicly or privately apologise to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the siege will not be lifted,” the statement warned.
Emma Powerful concluded by comparing Kanu to Biblical prophets. “Let the DSS parade a thousand false witnesses. Let the newspapers print a thousand lies. But like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Elijah before him, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has spoken the truth that only time will vindicate. Already, his prophecies have begun to unfold. The rest shall come to pass.”
