Last week, several; armed hijacked the merchant ship MT Leon Dias and threatened to blow it up with its foreign crew if the Nigerian authorities do not release Ipob's detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Military commanders have said they consider the hijackers as terrorists and will treat them as such.
However, Ipob spokesman Emma Powerful said the organisation is a non-violent group with responsible men in Nigeria and the diaspora as members and therefore cannot be involve in any violent activity. He added that Ipob does not support any action that may possibly harm or take the life of anybody within and outside Nigeria.
Mr Powerful said: “Many people are sympathetic to the Biafran actualisation cause because of the treatment meted to the entire Biafran land comprising the former Eastern Region. Many groups are also rising up to speak against the treatment meted to the Ipob leader and Radio Biafra director Nnamdi Kanu, who at present is being incarcerated in Kuje Prison and they can use any style to make their demand felt by the federal government but no Ipob member has a hand in it.”
Nigeria's defence ministry has confirmed that the hijacking occurred on Friday and called it an act of sabotage. Apparently, the hijackers have given the government 31 days to free Mr Kanu or they will blow up the ship along with its crew.
Massob leader Uchenna Madu, said that his group too has no hand in the alleged hijacking of any merchant ship or any threat to blow it up. He added that Massob are non-violent and have no weapons to hold any ship hostage, let alone seize and threaten to blow it up with its passengers.
Mr Madu said: “I am aware that a militant group sometime gave the federal government a twenty one-day ultimatum to release Nnamdi Kanu, failing which they threatened that they will do what will surprise the Nigerian government. Maybe it is the same group, I do not even remember their name but I heard or read about that threat.
“You know that a lot of groups are springing up from the old Eastern Region to agitate for the actualisation of the sovereign state of Biafra and as far as they are fighting for Biafra, we cannot disown them but they have their own style which I think the federal government of Nigeria understands easily. If you are not violent, they will not understand and they will ignore you, so, we support the group if that is what they have actually done.
“However, we in Massob are not involved in violence, which is why they do not take us serious. They believe we are illiterate job seekers that are frustrated in life and decided to demand for Biafra."
Men of the Nigerian Navy are said to be in pursuit of the captured vessel which is berthed off the Republic of Benin's territorial waters. Defence ministry spokesman Brigadier Rabe Abubakar, said that the navy of the Republic of Benin was also monitoring the ship.
“The ship is presently in Benin waters, about 7.5 nautical miles off Cotonou Port under the watch of the Benin Republic navy. What exists now are criminal elements masquerading as militants,” Brigadier Abubakar added.
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