- IPOB accuse Facebook of being “accomplice” to alleged mass murders and “partnering with perpetrators of human rights abuses”
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) said is “appalled at the despicable attitude of Facebook for blocking the Facebook page” of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The pro-Biafra group alleged that “Facebook is today assisting an oppressive government that pampers, frees and settles ‘captured’ terrorists while doing nothing to protect or rehabilitate victims of terror.”
Facebook had on Tuesday night blocked his account “after his expository and explosive live broadcast,” saying that it is “not only baffling but too petty” for the global social media giant “to allow itself to be used by agents of oppression in Nigeria to suppress the truth.”
According to the statement by IPOB Spokesperson, Mr Emma Powerful, “we strongly condemn this attitude of Facebook Managers in Lagos and Abuja who collude with corrupt Nigerian government officials to suppress free flow of Information via their platform.
“This unconscionable and reprehensible attitude amounts to partnering with perpetrators of human rights abuses and other criminal activities masterminded by the Nigeria State against innocent citizens.”
IPOB accused Facebook of being accomplice to alleged mass murder and oppressive tendencies in Nigeria, stating that the account was blocked because its leader was exposing the atrocities of the Fulani herdsmen “wolves in human clothing.”
It expressed shock that Facebook could “block the account of the leader of the largest peaceful mass movement in the world for speaking the bitter truth people are too terrified to talk about? Why hasn’t Facebook prevailed on the perpetrators of these heinous crimes in Nigeria to stop their atrocities instead of denying innocent victims media access?
“Facebook is quick to fall for the lie of agents of oppression and accuse us of hate speech but fails to realise that hate action begets hate speech if in Facebook lexicon, bitter truth translates to hate speech.
“This unholy act is only akin to what Britain and her allies did to Biafra during the Genocidal War of 1967-70 when they imposed land, air and media blockade on Biafra in order to deny the truth about the ongoing genocide from coming out. Facebook it seems do not want the atrocities of Fulani killer herdsmen to come the knowledge of the world but they have failed woefully.
While saying that the blockage of the account would not deter “the gospel of truth being preached” by its leader, IPOB asked it followers to use other platforms.
It concluded by reminding “all those compromised local staff of Facebook in Lagos and Abuja that but for Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB, their families in their communities would have today been overrun by herdsmen and terrorists. An accomplice to a cruel man will surely get the reward of cruelty!”