Ipob further distances itself from Simon Ekpa accusing him of using ESN to defraud people

SECESSIONIST group the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) his disassociated itself from the self-proclaimed successor to its leader Nnamdi Kanu Simon Ekpa claiming he is now using the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to defraud people.

On July 10 2021, Mr Ekpa was named as the new head of Radio Biafra with a mandate to produce the daily broadcasts with call for the creation of an independent nation of Biafra. Mr Ekpa, who holds a PhD degree in law, is a human rights activist and a legal researcher who hails from Ngbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, where he holds a chieftaincy title.

Appointed following the arrest of Mr Kanu, Mr Ekpa is said to be one of those in line to the throne as the son of the late King Nwangbo, the Ogaba Idu of Ngbo clan. He has been living in Finland for more than a decade where he has acquired citizenship and got involved in local politics, recently being elected deputy councillor in his municipality.

Of late, however, Mr Ekpa has been at loggerheads with several Igbo leader, over his insistence that the weekly sit-a-home protests across the southeast continue. Ohanaeze Ndigbo has accused Mr Ekpa of declaring a second Biafra war in the southeast and increased the bounty on his head to $500,000 from the $50,000 which it placed on him in January this year.

Now, things have taken a turn for the worse for Mr Ekpa, with Ipob saying he is not even a registered member of their security outfit ESN. Ipob spokesman Emma Powerful, said it was wrong to describe Mr Ekpa as a factional leader of the group.

Mr Powerful said: “We have observed with dismay the deliberate moves of some compromised media houses and social media platforms to attribute Simon Ekpa to the membership of the noble family of Ipob.  For the purposes of clarity and emphasis, the said Simon Ekpa is not in any way a registered unit member of Ipob, nor is he connected to ESN.

“It is, therefore, imperative that media houses are appropriately guided to reflect this reality in their publications, henceforth. Those referring to the said Ekpa as a factional leader of Ipob are either misguided, ill-informed or playing the script of the Department of State Services (DSS), who are his main sponsors with the main agenda to destabilize the southeast with the use of criminals.

“Ekpa is unknown to ESN. The fact that he has been using ESN’s name to dupe gullible people through his endless fundraising schemes, does not in any way link him to ESN formed by Ipob. Ekpa has an inconspicuous group called Government in Exile and he can be seen in most of his social media videos alluding to these very facts.

“We are mindful of the concerted efforts of DSS and similar agencies to infiltrate, undermine and divide Ipob with the sole motive of weakening the organisation from within. It is to be reiterated emphatically that Ipob is not divided, has no factional leadership or is involved in any entity associated with efforts to criminalise the social-political space in the southeast.”