Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A fierce war of words has erupted between the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Nigerian Army, with the separatist group accusing the military of staging "fake" raids on alleged Eastern Security Network camps in Anambra State to divert public attention from the escalating legal battle involving its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The allegation, contained in a statement issued on Sunday, August 16, 2026, by IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful, came in response to the Army's announcement that its troops had overrun three IPOB/ESN camps in the Osuakwa area along the Ihiala-Ogbaru boundary on Saturday, killing three suspected members, arresting three others and recovering a cache of weapons and explosives.
The Nigerian Army had claimed that the operation, conducted by troops of the newly established 15 Brigade under Joint Task Force South East, Operation UDO KA, alongside personnel of the Department of State Services and members of the Agunechemba Vigilante Group, followed intelligence on the activities of suspected IPOB/ESN members. The military said its troops came under hostile fire during the operation but successfully neutralised three suspects, overran and destroyed the three camps, and recovered an FN rifle loaded with 10 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, a pump-action shotgun with five cartridges, 15 sticks of dynamite, four motorcycles, a gas cylinder, batteries and radio chargers. The Army also announced the arrest of three suspects, including a man identified as Chijioke, another male suspect and a female suspect, who were reportedly found in the company of six children.
But IPOB dismissed the military's account with characteristic defiance, describing the operation as part of what it called a "manufactured media frenzy" designed to shift public attention away from the Biafran question and the legal issues raised by Kanu. The group pointed to two immediate developments that it said the Nigerian establishment was desperate to suppress: renewed international discussion of Biafra, including a recent programme on Israel's Channel 14 that reportedly touched on the Biafran question and alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria, and the explosive legal issues raised by Kanu in a letter addressed to the President of the Court of Appeal. "Rather than confront the substance of that international discussion, the Nigerian propaganda machinery has apparently chosen its familiar diversion: invent another ESN-camp story and flood the media with photographs and sensational claims," IPOB alleged.
The separatist group also accused the government of using similar tactics whenever its narrative concerning the Biafra agitation came under pressure. "Whenever the Nigerian state and its collaborators in the South-East find their narrative collapsing, suddenly an alleged ESN camp is 'discovered,'" the group claimed. IPOB further alleged that ordinary items recovered during such operations were often presented as evidence of nefarious activities, and challenged the Army to provide independently verifiable evidence linking the alleged camps and those arrested to the organisation or Kanu. The group also questioned why military operations against alleged ESN camps receive significant publicity while other armed criminal groups operating across the country continue to pose security challenges.
IPOB's accusation comes against the backdrop of sustained military operations in the South-East, where the Army has intensified its crackdown on IPOB and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network. The military has repeatedly described these operations as necessary to combat terrorism and restore peace in the region, while IPOB has consistently denied any involvement in violence and accused the government of using security operations to demonise the group and suppress its agitation for self-determination.
The Army's Anambra operation and IPOB's swift rebuttal have added another layer to the continuing security and political tensions surrounding the South-East. The escalating war of words underscores the deep mistrust between the two sides, as each accuses the other of deception and manipulation. For IPOB, the latest military operation is not a victory against criminality but a calculated attempt to distract from what it considers the most important issue: the fate of its imprisoned leader, whose legal battle has become a rallying point for the group's supporters. For the Nigerian Army, the operation is a legitimate counter-terrorism effort that has dealt a blow to a proscribed organisation. But with IPOB questioning the credibility of the military's claims and demanding independent scrutiny, the battle for public perception is far from over.
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