By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the purported idea of holding the trial of Simon Ekpa by Finnish Government in Finland on 30 May, describing it as a day set aside to celebrate Biafran heroes who sacrificed themselves during the Biafra/Nigeria civil war.

Making the condemnation in a statement by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful, on Tuesday, the group accused the British Foreign office of working hand-in-glove with their puppets in the Nigerian state to criminalise and sabotage the legitimate Biafra self-determination movement.

The statement read in part: "We condemn in the strongest terms the decision of the Finnish authorities, undoubtedly influenced by the British Foreign Office, to schedule the trial of Simon Ekpa on May 30th, a sacred day for Biafrans when we honour the memory of our five million martyrs murdered during the genocidal war against our people.

"This provocative timing is not a coincidence. It is a carefully calculated insult designed to mock our pain, distort our history, and distract from the continued illegal detention and persecution of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

"Let it be made unequivocally clear: Simon Ekpa is not a member of IPOB. He has been publicly disowned by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu himself. During his court appearance in Finland, Ekpa described himself as a "content creator," not a freedom fighter, not a representative of IPOB, and certainly not a defender of the Biafra cause.

"Any attempt by foreign or Nigerian media to link his actions to IPOB is fraudulent, lazy, and malicious. We know who is behind this drama. It is the same British establishment that supervised the slaughter of five million Biafrans and the abduction and extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in violation of international laws.

"It is the same British government that remains deafeningly silent on the daily atrocities committed by Fulani terrorists across Nigeria. If Britain invested even a fraction of the energy it uses to fight IPOB into stopping Fulani terrorism, Nigeria would not be a slaughterhouse today.

"Britain?s obsession with IPOB and the Biafra cause is not only hypocritical, it is dangerous. It emboldens genocidal actors in Nigeria, fuels instability, and makes a peaceful resolution to Nigeria?s deep-rooted crises ever more difficult. Instead of addressing the root causes of disintegration, mass poverty, systemic injustice, and ethnic domination, Britain and her Finnish surrogates want to put the blame on IPOB, the only peaceful and disciplined mass movement in the whole of Africa."

IPOB further reminded the world that it is not a terrorist organisation, adding, "We do not engage in armed struggle. We are guided by international law and the right to self-determination as enshrined in the African Charter and the United Nations Charter. Any attempt to associate us with the actions of an individual who has no link with our movement is a political fraud and will be resisted.

"As we prepare to mark Biafra Heroes Day on 30 May 2025, we urge all Biafrans and lovers of freedom around the world to remain focused. The enemies of our struggle are trying to provoke us. They want to rewrite our story. They will fail. Biafra is a divine project. No force on earth can stop it," the movement stated.