An American academic and Executive Director of School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Baltimore, Ivan Sheehan, has called on U.S. President, Joseph Biden, to support the designation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organisation.
in a opinion piece published in The Washington Times, Sheehan said the establishment of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) by IPOB signalled the end of the group’s “pretenses of being a peaceful movement.”
The Nigerian Federal Government declared IPOB a terrorist organisation in 2017.
IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is currently in the custody of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) following his arrest in Kenya and repatriation to Nigeria in June.
Sources said that the new international campaign to isolate the body follows the rhetoric of members of the IPOB leadership and the ongoing violence, killings and destruction suspected to have emanated by forces sympathetic to its cause in the South East region of the country.
Sheehan, in leading the campaign to declare IPOB a terrorist organisation, said its leader, Kanu, supports terrorism and issued threats via Radio Biafra.
According to him, “Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB’s leader, is clearly unconcerned. That he feels no need to even disguise his support of terrorism is worrisome.
“Though IPOB’s principal aim is to restore a breakaway State of Biafra in the Southeastern parts of Nigeria, Mr. Kanu’s rhetoric has become increasingly strident, “I don’t want peaceful actualization (of Biafra).
“Mr. Kanu has said through his Radio Biafra channel, used to project threats, instructions, and propaganda into Nigeria from the safety of London, “If they don’t (give us Biafra), they will die.
“Neither does Mr. Kanu make idle threats. The December revelation of IPOB’s 50,000 strong-armed paramilitary wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), complete with a Swastika-style flag, marked the end to all pretenses of being a peaceful movement.
“What had been largely unspoken was publicly declared. Since then, violent IPOB attacks on both security personnel and civilians have surged by a terrifying 59%; deaths by 344%.”
Sheeran further explained that tagging the secessionist group with a terror label would “hit IPOB’s wallet hard,” adding that if done, no organisation that uses the US currency would be able to conduct legal transactions with IPOB.
“As soon as the designation is applied, no organization that utilizes U.S. currency would be able to legally conduct transactions with the organization.
“By cutting off IPOB’s funding, the U.S. would weaken the 50,000 strong paramilitary outfit, and provide Nigeria’s security forces room to train their sights squarely on ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram in the Northeast of the country.”
“Counterterrorism operations against Boko Haram have long been assisted by U.S. agencies working in close coordination with the West African government,” he added.