There are growing fears over the activities of an organised armed unit in Nigeria’s southeastern region. Dubbed the ‘Biafran Liberation Army’, the group’s activities worry residents, other Nigerians and even the army.

On Sunday morning, Okafor Ndubuisi, an X user, shared a video of men in uniform holding Biafran and Israeli flags.

Ndubuisi captioned the video: “Nigeria government, this is no more jokes(sic). You can’t have two armies in one country. Call for negotiation, release Nnamdi Kanu and do the needful.”

Nnamdi Kanu, the self-professed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is in detention and facing terrorism charges. In December 2020, he took to Facebook to declare the launch of the Eastern Security Network, a private vigilante outfit he said would secure the region against infiltrators.

Three years after Kanu’s ESN declaration, Finland-based Simon Ekpa announced the launching of the Biafran Liberation Army, a private military armed with sophisticated weapons.

READ ALSO: Keep Deceiving Them — IPOB Reacts to Enugu Gov’s Sit-at-Home Cancellation Tweet

While Kanu remains in custody, IPOB, Ekpa and other groups which share the ideology of a breakaway Biafra nation demand his release — often violently.

THORN IN THE ARMY’S SIDE

When Ekpa published the video of a tortured man clad in military camouflage, it angered the Nigerian Army. The move vexed the army so much, it called for international organisations Amnesty International and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold Ekpa responsible for his actions.

Via an X post on Saturday, Ekpa published the video of a man he described as Corporal Adewale, a “servicemen serving Nigeria within Biafraland and killing our people in Biafraland”.

He said the private military would give him “transportation fare to enable him to return to his family”, and he threatened other Yoruba natives contributing to the military’s operations in the southeast.

Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of Army Public Relations, reacted a day later. Nwachukwu described Ekpa’s post as propaganda because Toriola Adewale, the captured Corporal, had retired from active service.

“We urge all Nigerians to disregard the malicious video and stand united against the vile acts of terrorism in the South East,” Nwachukwu stated.

READ ALSO: Igbo Leader Who Threatened to Bring IPOB to Lagos Arrested

THE NNAMDI KANU PROBLEM

When the government arrested Kanu in Kenya on June 27, 2021, it might have appeared as though the activities of IPOB would hit a standstill, but it was not to be.

As Kanu began a drawn-out battle with the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian state, Ekpa and several ideologists steered IPOB in a different direction.

In May 2022, IPOB began issuing blanket sit-at-home orders in the region whenever Kanu appeared in court. This action soon became a permanent order in southeastern states on Mondays.

When Kanu tried stopping the order in June 2023, IPOB did not agree, and the group continued to maintain the same momentum as Ekpa continued to give orders.

The group has since attacked police stations, schools, residents and anyone who opposes it or operates in the region on Mondays.

In September 2017, the Federal High Court in Abuja proscribed IPOB as a terrorist group but a State High Court in Enugu declared the proscription null and void and held that the Nigerian government cannot refer to it as a terror organisation in October 2023.

Despite the court ruling, the army still refers to IPOB as a terror organisation.

IPOB’s leaders still subscribe to violence and the use of force with unconstitutional means like the Biafran Liberation Army.