The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a Nigerian nationalist separatist organization seeking to re-establish the Republic of Biafra, a country that seceded from Nigeria before the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) and eventually rejoined Nigeria after being defeated by the Nigerian military.

Since 2021, IPOB and other Biafran separatist organizations have been conducting a low-level guerilla war against the Nigerian government in southeastern Nigeria.

Nnamdi Kanu, a British Nigerian political activist renowned for supporting the present Biafran independence struggle, created the organization in 2012. The Nigerian government designated it a terrorist group in 2017 under the Nigerian Terrorism Act.

The United Kingdom began refusing refuge to IPOB members who committed in human rights violations in May 2022, despite the fact that the UK government stressed that IPOB had not been labeled as a terrorist organization. IPOB has accused Nigeria’s federal government of insufficient investment, political alienation, inequitable resource distribution, ethnic marginalization, and a large military presence, as well as extrajudicial murders, in the country’s South-Eastern, South-Central, and sections of North-Central areas.

The movement rose to popularity in the mid-2010s and has since grown to become the largest Biafran independence organization in terms of membership. It has received significant media attention in recent years as a regular target of political crackdowns by the Nigerian government. It also has several websites and communication channels that serve as the sole reliable social apparatus for educating and inculcating first-hand information and news to its members.

Background

Biafra once existed as an independent multi-ethnic republic comprised of the Igbo, Ijaw, Efik, and Ibibio peoples, among others, and was declared by Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu for three years, from 1967 to 1970.

The federal administration worked hard to retain the Federal Republic of Nigeria and opposed the concept of Biafra being an independent state.

The Nigerian civil war lasted three years as a result of tensions between Biafra and the federal authority. There were an estimated one to 3.5 million civilian casualties as a result of malnutrition and death on Biafra’s side. The Biafran army surrendered in 1970, thanks to an armistice arranged by the now-defunct OAU.

Leadership

Nnamdi Kanu, a dual British and Nigerian citizen, is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra. He founded IPOB after becoming famous through his broadcasts on Radio Biafra, which was founded in 2009.

This was a London-based radio station that broadcast messages calling for “Biafran liberation” and criticizing Nigeria’s leadership for corruption. Kanu’s ascent to public prominence was aided by Radio Biafra, as he was previously unknown. On October 19, 2015, Nigerian security forces detained Kanu on allegations of “sedition, ethnic provocation, and treasonable crime.”

Links to other groups

There have been several additional pro-Biafran organizations formed. The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) gained prominence in the early 2000s, as did the Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM), which emerged in 2012. Following these other groups, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) emerged in 2012.

IPOB was formed to carry on the movement started by MASSOB. Ralph Uwazuruike, MASSOB’s national head, founded the organization in 1999. However, the organization was severely damaged as a result of claimed official repression and internal disagreements concerning leadership. MASSOB accused Uwazuruike of siding with “mainstream Nigerian politics” rather than advancing the cause of Biafra.

These confrontations aided in the establishment of another faction known as BZM. The Nigerian government detained BZM leader Benjamin Igwe Onwuka and numerous members of the group for treason during a protest on 5 November 2012 in the Enugu area. Because of the arrests and prosecutions of many of the organization’s leaders, BZM’s operations were curtailed. Both of these pro-Biafran organizations paved the way for the creation of IPOB, which continues to support the same causes.