Nigerian opposition leader Peter Obi on Thursday extended a controversial benefit of the doubt to the separatist movement, Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), saying he accepted the group’s denial of responsibility in enduring attacks on residents across the Igbo-dominated South-East. 

In a thread of tweets on Thursday morning, Mr Obi said IPOB’s statement meant those behind terrorising residents of the region are common criminals who should be flushed out of the region by federal authorities. 

Mr Obi lamented the ongoing disruption of business and social activity in the South-East region over the so-called sit-at-home directive “purported to be coming from the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, when the body has publicly denied issuing such directive.” 

“What is going on in the South East, therefore, is essentially a criminal activity that must be nipped in the bud, with all hands being on deck, security agencies, and the people alike,” he added. 

In accepting IPOB’s denial, which appeared to have come from a mushroom faction of the proscribed secessionist movement, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate appeared to be ignoring the public statement of Simon Ekpa, the most vocal leader of the group. 

In recent weeks, Mr Ekpa has issued several statements repeating enforcement of the group’s agenda to paralyse commercial activities in across the South-East by instilling fears in everyday residents of the region — in defiance of federal authorities. Economists estimated billions of naira in potential revenues had been lost due to IPOB’s sit-at-home order, which usually sees heavy compliance in five states every Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Mr Ekpa, who is widely believed to live in Finland, issued another directive mandating the region to observe the sit-at-home for two weeks between July 31 to August 14 to, among other things, demand Mr Kanu’s freedom and a referendum for Biafra’s exit from Nigeria.  

Mr Ekpa’s comments came as suspected IPOB operatives were circulating videos of themselves attacking schoolchildren, market women, farmers, artisans and others in Enugu, Anambra and elsewhere in the South-East.

Mr Ekpa, who describes himself as the prime minister to Nnamdi Kanu, has been widely recognised as the commander of IPOB, as Mr Kanu remains in the custody of the Nigerian government. The government proscribed the group in 2017 as a terrorist group, and authorities continue to link the group to untold carnage across the region.

Mr Obi did not say which IPOB group denied responsibility for the attacks, and his comments have drawn social media ire, especially from supporters of President Bola Tinubu, who have long accused the politician of harbouring sympathies for the separatist. Mr Obi, 61, is a former governor of Anambra, the cradle of the South-East region. 

A spokesman for the politician, who is currently litigating the outcome of February’s presidential election in court, did not immediately return a request seeking comments about whether or not he was aware of Mr Ekpa’s domineering influence in IPOB.