Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, was a guest on NTA yesterday where he disclosed that the Federal government is aware of countries that are supporting and funding members of the now-outlawed secessionist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB.
According to him, most of the countries were doing so out of ignorance as they have been deceived to believe that a genocide is currently happening in Nigeria andthat Muslims are persecuting Christians.
“Terrorists do not publish where their funding are coming from. But we know the countries that are supporting IPOB.
We know the sources of their funding though I am not at liberty to disclose them here. We are taking steps to block them and we are also taking a lot of diplomatic actions in respect of the countries that are supporting them.
As we speak today, IPOB has written letters to many Governments outside Nigeria, international parliaments sending fake and cloned videos claiming there is genocide in Nigeria" he said.
On the recent proscription of IPOB activities by the Defence Headquarters and the South East governors, Lai Mohammed said
“There are a lot of arguments regarding the constitutionality of the action of the military and the South East governors.
People must realize that we are dealing with issues of national security and I do not think that the military and the governors should fold their arms while the country is set ablaze.
I have heard a lot of comments as to whether the military has the right to declare IPOB,a terrorist group.
What the military has done is to catalogue all the activities of IPOB, which are not different from that of terrorist groups,” he said.
The Minister who had previously accused disgruntled politicians of sponsoring Boko Haram activities, said activities of IPOB members became a source of worry when theyset up a para-military organization, a parallel military group, Biafra Secret Service and Biafra National Guard.
“IPOB activities are not jokes. If there have not been the proactive actions on the part of the military and the South East governors, there would have been retaliation from other regions and the entire country will beset on fire.
We cannot be talking about semantics or procedure when the nation is moving towards crises and precipices. It is only in the Banana Republic that you can see non-state actors doing what IPOB is doing.
The actions by the military and the governors should be seen from the perspective of ensuring internal security and averting chaos,”he said.
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