The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has announced a total political boycott of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, across the South-East and other Igbo-populated areas, accusing the Federal Government of deliberately frustrating the appeal filed by its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, against his conviction.

The pro-Biafra group made the declaration in a statement issued on Monday and signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, where it alleged that the Federal Government is using state institutions to delay and sabotage the legal process aimed at securing the freedom of its leader.

According to the statement, IPOB said it has observed with dismay a systematic pattern of legal and political manoeuvres by the Federal Government to prevent the Court of Appeal from hearing and determining the appeal filed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu against his recent conviction by a lower court.

The group stated that the continued detention of its leader, despite several court pronouncements in the past that had discharged and acquitted him, is a clear indication that the government is not interested in justice but in political persecution of an Igbo son.

IPOB noted that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s legal team had promptly filed an appeal against his conviction, but that since the filing, there have been deliberate attempts to frustrate the hearing of the appeal through unnecessary adjournments, failure to transmit records and other bureaucratic bottlenecks orchestrated by government agencies.

It said the development has reinforced its long-held position that the trial and conviction of Nnamdi Kanu was politically motivated and designed to silence the agitation for self-determination and intimidate the Igbo people.

The organisation therefore declared that henceforth, it would mobilise its members, supporters and all lovers of freedom in the South-East to completely boycott all activities, programmes and political structures of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the region.

It explained that the boycott would include refusal to attend APC rallies, meetings, campaigns and other political gatherings, as well as urging Ndigbo to reject any form of inducement or appointment from the ruling party until justice is done.

IPOB stressed that the boycott is not directed at individual Igbo politicians who are members of the APC, but at the party as a ruling political platform that controls the Federal Government which it accused of oppressing its leader.

According to the group, any political party that is in power at the centre and uses that power to persecute and incarcerate an Igbo leader unjustly does not deserve the support and cooperation of the Igbo people.

The group further alleged that the Federal Government under the APC has shown no commitment to political solution to the Biafra agitation, despite repeated calls from elder statesmen, religious leaders, traditional rulers and other well-meaning Nigerians.

It recalled that prominent leaders, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Mbazulike Amechi and several Igbo traditional rulers, had at different times called for a political solution to the Nnamdi Kanu issue, but that such calls have been ignored by the government.

IPOB said the refusal of the government to explore political solution and its insistence on continuing the prosecution and detention of Nnamdi Kanu has exposed its insincerity and hatred for the Igbo nation.

It warned that the continued detention of its leader is capable of further heating up the polity and worsening insecurity in the South-East, as the frustration and anger among Igbo youths continue to grow by the day.

The group maintained that Nnamdi Kanu remains a prisoner of conscience who committed no crime other than demanding freedom and justice for his people through peaceful means, as guaranteed by both Nigerian and international laws.

It therefore called on the international community, including the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, to intervene and prevail on the Federal Government to release its leader unconditionally.

IPOB also called on human rights organisations, civil society groups and all lovers of justice across the world to lend their voices to the call for the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu and to condemn what it described as judicial rascality.

The organisation assured its members and supporters across the globe that it remains committed to the non-violent approach to its agitation for a sovereign State of Biafra, despite provocations from the Federal Government.

It urged its members to remain calm, resolute and disciplined, and not to engage in any form of violence or confrontation with security agencies in the course of observing the boycott of the APC.

IPOB warned that any attempt by security agencies to harass, intimidate or arrest its members for observing the boycott would be resisted through legal and diplomatic means and would be brought to the attention of the international community.

It also advised Igbo political leaders, irrespective of party affiliation, to speak out against the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, stressing that history would judge them if they remain silent in the face of injustice against their own.

According to the group, the boycott of the APC would remain in force until the Federal Government allows the appeal filed by Nnamdi Kanu to be heard on its merit and until justice is seen to be done.

IPOB further stated that it would not hesitate to extend the boycott to other political parties or institutions that collaborate with the Federal Government to frustrate the legal process for its leader.

It reiterated its belief that the self-determination struggle is a legitimate and inalienable right recognised under international law, and that no amount of intimidation, detention or persecution would make it abandon the cause.

The group concluded by calling on all Biafrans, both at home and in the diaspora, to remain united and to continue to pray for the safe release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, whom it described as the beacon of hope for the oppressed people of Biafra.