The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has said that the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra is behind the vandalism of oil pipelines and other infrastructures in the country.
During an interview with an American publication, Bloomberg, Buhari called on western allies to designate IPOB for their “involvement” in vandalism and oil theft.
Buhari who will bow out of the presidential seat in 2023 noted that IPOB were responsible for the shortfall of the daily oil production quota in Nigeria.
“Criminality and terrorism in oil-producing regions hamper production, and it would help if our western allies designated IPOB as a terrorist group, given their complicity in damage to pipelines and infrastructure.
“We urge those same international partners to take additional steps costing them nothing, by proscribing IPOB as a terrorist organisation.”
“Their leadership enjoys a haven in the West, broadcasting hate speech into Nigeria from London, spending millions lobbying members of the US Congress, and freely using international financial networks to arm agitators on the ground. This must stop,” he told the publication.