IPOB Directs Igbos In Lagos To Ensure They’re Not Counted If They Can’t Return To Southeast Nigeria For Census

The separatist group said southeasterners should be counted in the states they hail from and not where they reside outside their geopolitical zone.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has mandated all the people of Southeast Nigeria living in Lagos State and other parts of the country to return to the East during the forthcoming census.

The separatist group said southeasterners should be counted in the states they hail from and not where they reside outside their geopolitical zone.

This comes on the heels of the rising tension and reported attacks on Igbo people in Lagos.

IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, on Wednesday, stated that it will use the census to ascertain the Igbo population and the size of social amenities needed in the Southeast region.

The secessionist group said it called for the mass return of the people of the Southeast during the census because it will “help us quantify the population of Biafrans in Nigeria”.

“Therefore, we must seize the opportunity Nigerian government is offering to our benefit,” it added.

IPOB further said, “They have always told the world that we are a dot with an insignificant population. Now is the time to let the world know the population of Biafrans in Nigeria as Biafra agitation is gathering international attention and speed.

“Those who disenfranchised Biafrans during the last fraudulent elections should never be allowed to use us to boost their population again. They have always used Biafrans’ population for a higher allocation yet deny Biafrans opportunity to freely participate in the national issues from their territories. It’s time we use our tongue to count our teeth.

“Therefore, IPOB is calling every Biafran resident in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria to travel back to the East and be counted in their home state. Kindly disregard any announcement from any quarter, especially from government agencies asking people not to go back to their state of origin during the census.

“Don’t let them deceive you. It’s the same agenda to keep falsifying and deceiving the world that we are a small dot in the contraption.”

The group said should there be any reason why Igbo people cannot travel to their places of origin to be counted, “make sure you and your family members are not counted outside Biafra Land”.

“We must prove them wrong once and for all,” it said.

IPOB promised to engage with transport owners “to be part of this project so that those willing to travel to the East to be counted can do so”.

It continued, “We are calling on all well-meaning Igbo businessmen and women, entrepreneurs, senators, ministers, commissioners, House of Assembly Members from the Eastern states to contribute in one way or the other to ensure that our people come back home during this population census exercise.”

IPOB called on the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide and Southeast governors to show that they are concerned about the “humiliation our people have been subjected to in this country.

“Our people’s mass return during this population census to be counted among us has many benefits which include validating our majority population in Nigeria that has been manipulated, used, and abused for the attraction of higher allocation from the Federal government to other states in the past, but can now help us plan for the amenities required in Biafraland like international markets and industrial parks.

“All traditional rulers, PGs, and village heads should ensure that our population is counted, captured, and the population data protected for reference purposes. If you are not coming home make sure you are not counted in Lagos.”