Simon Ekpa, self-acclaimed disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said he will not be “taking orders anymore from the DSS dungeon” where Kanu is being held.
This is a summation of his reaction following directive by Kanu for him to immediately stop all pronouncements and enforcement of sit-at-home in Nigeria’s South East region.
Signaling that he is ready to go solo, Finland-based leader of Autopilot wing of IPOB) whose members are violently backing the unknown gunmen and criminals enforcing the sit-at-home, spoke Saturday and Sunday in series of tweets that has either been deleted or modified via his handle, @simom_ekpa.
In the immediate tweet over the recent handwritten letter from the IPOB leader Kanu directing him to end sit-at-home in the South East zone with immediate effect, Ekpa had threatened in later deleted posts to reject him as the Supreme Leader of IPOB and may soon take the position for compromising with the federal government to destroy the Igbo people.
He alleged that Kanu may now be having mental issues due to brainwash by the Islamic State.
In one of his many tweets, Ekpa said the letter, conveyed to him through Nnamdi Kanu’s Special Counsel, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, was misleading and did not represent what IPOB stood for.
Ejimakor, who released details of the handwritten letter by Kanu to Ekpa ordering him to stop enforcing the sit-at-home, also noted that the IPOB leader also asked the Autopilot group leader to stop antagonising South East Governors as he doesn’t know what they were doing on his behalf.
In another tweet, Ekpa accused Mazi Nnamdi Kanu of working with some security agencies and government to undermine his powers as the Prime Minister of the soon-to-be unveiled Biafra Republic Government In Exile (BRGIE), adding that Mazi Kanu would soon be dethroned as the Supreme Leader of the IPOB just like the recent coup d’etat in the Niger Republic.
The series of tweets read: “Let me warned those parading as the Supreme Leader of IPOB that we are now poised to reject Nnamdi Kanu because he is now having a mental issue as a result of staying long in the Islamic DSS cell.
“Even if Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is released today, we will no longer take orders from him. He is out of his mind and as the Prime Minister, I am now in charge. Nobody can bribe me if they have finally bribed that animal called Onyendu.
“I repeat, I am now in charge. Sit-at-home must continue. We will repeat what happened in Niger Republic soon as my government will be roasting Nnamdi Kanu because of his acts of betrayer. He is now another saboteur like Ralph Uwazuilike of the criminal MASSOB.”
However, the tweets have been deleted as Ekpa came under fire by ‘Onyendu’ Mazi Kanu’s loyalists who were calling him criminal, murderer, vagabond, while appealing to his sponsors to stop giving him money which he has been using to destroy Igboland.
However, the Ebonyi State-born separatist and violent factional IPOB leader, in a video shared on his Twitter handle on Sunday, explained why agitators under him would not take orders emanating from “DSS Dungeon,” saying it is because they want the safety of Kanu.
In the video on Sunday, Ekpa said: “The reason for us not taking orders anymore from the DSS dungeon is to safeguard our leader. We want our leader to be safe, we want to exonerate our leader from anything that Biafrans will be doing for his own best interests.
“So any actions that Biafra people will be taking in Biafra land you don’t attach Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to it. Any actions that Biafrans will be taking in Biafra land for the freedom of Biafra, freedom of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and freedom of all prisoners of conscience you do not bring Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to it.”
Meanwhile, Governor of Imo state, Hope Uzodimma, has appealed to the Nigeria Military to bring Ekpa back to South East to partake in the sit-at-home order he issued.
Uzodimma said on Friday when he hosted Major General Hassan Dada, the new General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, at the Government House, Owerri.
Ekpa had issued a two week sit-at-home directive beginning from tomorrow, July 31, 2023.
Worried about the continuous sit-at-homes being violently enforced by Ekpa, Uzodimma said: “What is topmost in our cases is this popular sit-at-home order. There’s one man called Simon Ekpa somewhere in Finland.
“It is our hope that the security agencies, particularly the military, working with the federal government, will be able to either bring Simon Ekpa back to Nigeria to also sit at home with us or be made to face the wrath of the law.”