IPOB accuses Simon Ekpa of working for DSS

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused its factional leader, Mr Simon Ekpa of working for the Department of States Services (DSS) to bring down the group.

Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr Emma Powerful stated this in a statement issued on Monday and made available to newsmen in Awka, Anambra state.

According to the statement, Ekpa was in 2016 trained by DSS and sent into IPOB as a mole.

Finland based separatist leader has since the arrest of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu in 2021, assumed leadership of IPOB, but later declared himself as the Prime Minister of Biafra Government in Exile.

• BREAKING: Tinubu decorates service chiefs with new ranks
• Rep Ugochinyere laments rising insecurity, expresses confidence in military

He has been responsible for the declaration of civil disobedience order, also known as sit-at-home in the south eastern region.

Ekpa has also threatened many people who disobey his order, and it is believed to be responsible for the violence that some hoodlums unleash on innocent people during sit-at-home days in South East.

IPOB has constantly dissociated itself from his activities, but Ekpa insists that his actions are geared towards ensuring speedy release of Kanu.

Powerful said, “Ekpa was prior to this period groomed by the Nigerian DSS to usurp the leadership of IPOB in 2016 but that evil plan failed woefully.

“Simon Ekpa was the same person as the faceless Okwudili that DSS created in 2016 as the new leader of IPOB, when our leader was in detention in 2016. Prior to this time, Simon was a hater of Ndigbo and particularly IPOB in Finland. IPOB members in Finland will attest to this.

“Simon Ekpa is the exclusive project of Nigerian DSS, to create a situation of unrest and hostilities in the South East which the end product was to destroy the image of IPOB.”

According to the statement, if it was not so, the federal government would have taken certain steps to arrest his activities in the zone.

It stated, “Why is Nigeria government not making any effort to diplomatically engage Finnish Government about visible hostilities of Ekpa? Why did Nigeria suppress the Legal Investigation of Ekpa in Finland, also his court cases in Nigeria?”

According to the statement, if the federal government was serious about ending Ekpa’s rascality in the zone, it would have ordered DSS to allow Kanu address his followers through his social media channels.

It also called on its members to discountenance Ekpa, while also challenging him to dish orders to IPOB members without using Kanu’s name, and see if anyone would listen to him.