Wike signs executive order proscribing IPOB in Rivers
Governor Nyesom Wike has signed an executive order to reinforce the federal ban on the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and its activities in Rivers
Mr. Wike, in a broadcast Wednesday night in Port Harcourt, maintained that Rivers remains the home to all tribes and ethnic nationalities.
He said that the government acknowledges and appreciates the enormous contributions from non-indigenes to the political, social and economic development of the State. But will not allow any individual or group from within and outside to violate peace and endanger lives and property.
Mr. Wike said he remained “opposed to the presence and activities of the legally-proscribed and anarchic IPOB and whatever it stands for in Rivers State.’
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“And so, let it be understood that we have nothing against all or any specific tribe and will continue to live in peace with people of all other tribal extractions residing or doing business in Rivers State.
“But we have everything against the presence and activities of the legally-proscribed IPOB and whatever that group stands for in Rivers State,” he added.
Mr. Wike described IPOB as a terrorist group whose existence, creed, mission and activities are strongly denounced even by the government and peoples of South-Eastern states of the country.
The proscription, which repeated a 2017 federal gazette banning IPOB separatist agitation in Nigeria, came after weeks of violence linked to IPOB members and their leader Nnamdi Kanu across communities in Rivers.
Communities like Mile 1, Mile 2, Iloabuchi, Emenike and Ikokwu, all in Port Harcourt, and places in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area saw stringent curfews imposed following widespread violence over the past two weeks.
But the curfew in Oyigbo Local Government Area, where police officers and other security forces were killed, will remain in force until further notice, the government said.
