11/05/2025
Amnesty International’s Misplaced Blame On IPOB Undermines Credibility And Justice
Recently, unknown gunmen attacked travelers in Owerri. Shockingly, without verified evidence, Amnesty International hastily attributed the incident to IPOB, a peaceful self-determination movement advocating for the freedom and dignity of over 70 million Biafrans across Nigeria.
It is important to note that Amnesty International does not maintain a physical office in the Southeast region, nor do its journalists operate consistently or closely with local communities in the area. Any credible investigation into such incidents should involve direct, on-the-ground engagement with eyewitnesses and community leaders. Instead, Amnesty International appears to be relying on reports from legacy Nigerian media outlets, many of which are aligned with political elites and often serve as instruments of state propaganda, some even with documented links to terrorist sympathizers.
Rather than highlighting the consistent human rights violations and terrorism act committed by Nigerian security forces against citizens, including the military and the Department of State Services (DSS), Amnesty International has taken a troubling stance: vilifying the oppressed and indirectly endorsing the actions of the oppressors. This bias not only undermines the group’s credibility but also poses a serious threat to justice and transparency in Nigeria.
IPOB has consistently maintained a peaceful stance in her struggle for self-determination. The Eastern Security Network (ESN), established by IPOB, is not a militia but a community vigilante group focused on protecting farmlands and rural communities from attacks by Fulani militants. ESN operatives are stationed in forests and bushes not cities, and are solely concerned with safeguarding Biafran lives and agricultural resources.
Therefore, the narrative being pushed by Amnesty International against IPOB and ESN is not only false, but dangerously misleading. It is a distortion of the truth, an attempt to vilify those defending their people while ignoring the real threats and injustices festering within the Nigerian state.
The attack against travelers along Okigwe-Owerri is similar to the event that happened in Obikoabia junction in Aba where the Nigeria government through their military staged an attack against their own soldiers using them as sacrificial lambs in their desperation to accuse the Indigenous People of Biafra as the offenders who deserve to be punished. Despite all this staged attacks against a people whose only crime is the demand to decide if they still want to continue to be part of Nigeria or choose to be sovereign and independent.
IPOB remain innocent of all accusations from the Nigeria biased media with the false narratives being peddled by Amnesty international.
Family Writers Press International
