By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has taken a swipe on Nigeria government, accusing it of peddling lies on the elimination of ISWAP/ISIS Commander, Abu Bilal Minuku, describing it as a shameful, disgraceful lie.

The group in a statement made available to journalists by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful on Saturday said that the same terrorist was announced dead in 2024.

The statement partly read: "For the second time — or is it the third? — the Nigerian government is jubilating over the “elimination” of ISWAP/ISIS commander Abu Bilal Minuki, the same terrorist they proudly announced they had already killed in 2024.

"How many lives does this ghost have? How many times will this incompetent regime kill the same man to score cheap propaganda points?

"This is not an error. This is not intelligence failure. This is a deliberate criminal enterprise of deception, aided and abetted by a shameless media that has abandoned journalism for regime propaganda.

"Nigerian mainstream media outlets, instead of asking hard questions, instead of demanding evidence, instead of reminding the public of the previous “kill” announcement, rushed like obedient lapdogs to amplify this recycled falsehood with screaming headlines and victory songs. They are not reporters — they are enablers, co-conspirators in the fraud."

It stated that a media that indulges government lies on national security has lost its soul and forfeited its credibility. When the same outlets that swallowed and regurgitated the first Bilal Minuki death announcement now celebrate the second.

The statement further read, "Let it be stated boldly and uncompromisingly: Any government that repeatedly lies about killing the same terrorist, and any media house that indulges and promotes those lies, has lost the moral right to be believed on anything — especially when it comes to IPOB, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), or Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

"For years, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu exposed this rotten culture of state deception and media complicity in the mismanagement of insecurity. Their response was persecution, illegal detention, demonisation, and fabricated charges. They preferred to silence the truth-teller rather than fix the rot.

"Today, the lie has exploded in their faces. Their credibility is ashes. Every previous media campaign against IPOB, every planted story, every sponsored accusation now stands exposed as part of the same fraudulent playbook.

"We warn the captured Nigerian media: Your days of blind indulgence are numbered. The international community and independent voices are watching. History will record your role as willing accomplices in state propaganda."

IPOB also called on genuine investigative journalists, international media organisations, human rights bodies, and all conscientious people worldwide to reject and scrutinise every security narrative emanating from Nigeria until verifiable, independent evidence — not press releases and media chorus — is provided.

It stressed that Nigerians deserve better than a lying government and its media enablers, truth and accountability, saying, "Enough of the circus".