The Igbo Ekunie Initiative (IEI), comprised of individuals in Nigeria and the Diaspora have condemned the alleged massacre of members of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). In a statement by the president of the group, Maazi Tochukwu Ezeoke claimed that the protesters were celebrating the 49th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra.
The group also alleged that this is coming on the heels of several such extra-judicial killings in Zaria, Aba, and Abia state and elsewhere around the country by the Nigerian army. IEI also said that more than 50 people were brutally killed with some of them inside a church, while several others received life-threatening injuries.
The group alleged further that the claim by the Nigerian army that they acted in self-defense has always been the usual bandying of falsehood by a murderous, cowardly and rogue army desirous of covering its crimes and guilt. “It’s common knowledge that neither IPOB, nor MASSOB is armed nor engaged in armed conflict.