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The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said the group is not after Northerners, but rather after killer-herdsmen terrorising the South-East.
Naija News earlier reported that Gumi said that Fulani herdsmen and bandits only abduct students for money while IPOB killed security operatives in the Southeast.
In an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday, Gumi had said: “IPOB is attacking the police, the army, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other government institutions; killing our men in service.
”And the herdsmen are kidnapping children not to kill them but to get money; so how can you compare somebody who is killing our gallant men directly to somebody who is kidnapping children to make money and not to kill them. Look, we need some fairness in what we are doing.”
But in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB said Gumi was being mischievous and spreading falsehood.
He denied the allegations that IPOB and Eastern Security Network, ESN, are against Northerners, rather the group are tackling bandits and killer herdsmen.
The statement read in parts: “For Sheikh Gumi who never gave a hoot while killer herdsmen rampaged our communities to try to twist the fact is not only mischievous but an act of terror itself.
“No Northerner in any part of Biafra land can prove that he/she has at any time been attacked by IPOB or ESN. We are only chasing terrorists and bandits behind killings and kidnapping for ransom out of our land.
“Gumi should be ashamed that an Islamic cleric as he claims to be has suddenly become a mouthpiece for bandits and terrorists. That Gumi has special interest in bandits and terrorists is an indication that he is a terrorist and has never shown any empathy to their victims.
“Why is Gumi always advocating for terrorists and negotiating with them but never advanced the cause of victims of terror? What does Sheikh Gunmi have in common with bandits and terrorists?
“Gumi only wants to blackmail IPOB and ESN with his fabricated propaganda that we are attacking Northerners so as to provide more justification for his Fulani terrorists security agencies in Nigerian security uniforms to come after our innocent people as they are currently doing.
“This terror sympathizer wants to lessen the heat on his boys by instigating the security agencies against us. Can you see why Sheikh Gumi should be arrested for investigations and interrogations?
“We want to put the world on notice that Sheikh Gumi is the main sponsor of banditry and terrorism in Nigeria. He should be made to face the consequences of his actions.
“For holding talks with terrorists and championing their cause, he has a case to answer in the atrocities being committed.
“However, we promise Gumi and his likes that no amount of distraction will make us back down on our resolve to restore Biafra and defend our ancestral land against invasion by Fulani jihadists.
“We are formidable and we won’t give up on this mandate. ESN will not allow any person to occupy our forests again.”
