INTERNATIONAL PRESS STATEMENT
ISSUED BY: COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL, SPOKESPERSON/MEDIA AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF BIAFRA (IPOB).

7th September 2025.

 

IPOB COMMENDS CHIEF MARTIN ONOVO’S & OTHERS FOR THEIR SOUND POSITION ON SIMON EKPA AND REAFFIRMS THE GLOBAL LEGITIMACY OF ONYENDU MAZI NNAMDI KANU.

Taste the Goodness: EL Blends All-Natural Cold-Pressed Juices

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the supreme command of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, commends Chief Martin Onovo, respected 2015 Presidential Candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) and Head of Policy Positions at the Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC), for his principled, fearless, and truthful position on the fraudulent attempt to link Simon Ekpa’s conviction in Finland to the persecution of Onyendu.

 

Chief Onovo correctly described Simon Ekpa as a deranged criminal rightly convicted in Finland, whose activities have no connection whatsoever with Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu or IPOB. He further highlighted that the Nigerian government’s disobedience to its own courts, by refusing to release Onyendu after he was discharged, created the vacuum that opportunistic predators like Ekpa exploited.

 

IPOB: A GLOBAL, NON-VIOLENT SELF-DETERMINATION MOVEMENT

Let it be made abundantly clear to the international community: IPOB is a peaceful self-determination movement, legally registered and recognised in over 60 countries across the world, with active presence in more than 100 countries and territories. IPOB operates under international law, particularly the African Charter and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which guarantees the right of all indigenous peoples to self-determination.

The Nigerian State remains the only country in the world that falsely brands IPOB as a terrorist organisation. No other nation, no international court, and no global institution has ever adopted or endorsed this false designation. IPOB is whiter than white, and whiter than snow before the eyes of the international community.

 

MAZI NNAMDI KANU: SACRIFICE, COURAGE, AND LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE

Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not only a symbol of Biafran resistance but also a man whose life embodies sacrifice, compassion, and selfless leadership.

He has spent seven years in unlawful detention—kidnapped in Kenya and extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria in violation of international law.
He sacrificed his parents and personal comfort for the freedom of his people.
He is prepared to give up his very life if it guarantees a peaceful referendum for Biafran independence.

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Onyendu mobilised wealthy IPOB members worldwide to provide food and relief materials across Biafraland, from Igbanke in Edo to Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom.

He defended the forests and farmlands of the East against marauding Fulani herdsmen, when both state and federal governments failed.

 

Under his leadership, armed robbery and kidnapping in the East were virtually eliminated, as IPOB prioritised law, order, and security of the common people.

These antecedents are undeniable.

Onyendu remains the only Igbo leader in modern history to mobilise his people across the globe in such numbers and with such unity of purpose.

 

SIMON EKPA: A NIGERIAN CREATION TO UNDERMINE IPOB

It is important for the world to understand that Simon Ekpa was never IPOB’s choice. He was a deliberate creation of the Nigerian State and their collaborators, including slavish Igbo politicians, who sought to use his violent rhetoric to supplant Onyendu’s reasoned and lawful leadership. The Nigerian cabal imagined that, just as they used ISWAP to replace Abubakar Shekau in Boko Haram, they could use Ekpa to replace Onyendu.

This evil plot has failed and will continue to fail. The Biafran people remain united under Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. IPOB has no connection to the violence attributed to Ekpa and his gang of mercenaries.

 

AN APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

We call on the international community, human rights organisations, and democratic governments worldwide to take note of the following facts:

Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been discharged by Nigerian courts, yet remains unlawfully detained in violation of Nigeria’s Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

 

IPOB is a peaceful, global self-determination movement, legally registered in over 60 countries—including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, South Africa, and Australia.

The Nigerian government is weaponising Simon Ekpa conviction to smear Onyendu’s reputation and delegitimise the peaceful Biafra struggle, but the strategy has failed internationally.

Nigeria’s refusal to release Onyendu is the primary enabler of criminal opportunists like Ekpa, not IPOB.

 

CONCLUSION

Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains in detention today not because he has committed any crime, but because his global influence, moral authority, and unparalleled popularity threaten the Nigerian cabal and their Igbo collaborators who fear his vision of a free Biafra.

We therefore echo Chief Martin Onovo’s reasoning: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu must be released unconditionally. His continued persecution is an affront to justice, an insult to Nigeria’s judiciary, and a clear violation of international law.

The international community must not stand by while a peaceful leader is persecuted and opportunistic criminals are empowered. Justice demands that Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu be freed today.

 

COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL SPOKESPERSON/MEDIA AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR IPOB.