The secessionist group, in a statement issued on Tuesday by its leader, Uchenna Madu, alleged that the attacks were ploys by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to discredit pro-Biafra groups.
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has accused the Nigerian government of sponsoring Monday’s attacks on Imo Police Headquarters and Correctional Centre.
The secessionist group, in a statement issued on Tuesday by its leader, Uchenna Madu, alleged that the attacks were ploys by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to discredit pro-Biafra groups.
The group said: “Through MASSOB intelligence agency, we found out that all these attacks are being sponsored and executed by the Federal Government of Nigeria through their protected militiamen called bandits and unknown gunmen.
“Their primary aim is to discredit non- violence pro-Biafra freedom fighters like MASSOB and IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra).
“They want to create an erroneous impression that pro-Biafra agitators have turned violent and militant.
“How can untrained amateurs with no military training overpower the entire security apparatus of Nigeria in South-East?
“Why is it that there was no security resistance during the breaking up of Owerri prisons and Imo State police headquarters in an operation that lasted more than one hour?”
MASSOB advised the state governor, Hope Uzodinma to stop heaping blames on IPOB or ESN (Eastern Security Network) or any other pro- Biafra organisation.
“The Federal Government is plotting to militarise the entire Biafra land in disguise of searching for pro-Biafra agitators.
“They are planning to intimidate and inflict fear on our people to frustrate Ndigbo from clamouring for the 2023 presidency.”
The former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Monday, said preliminary investigation had revealed that the attack on the Imo State Police Headquarters and a correctional facility was carried out by members of the Eastern Security Network which was established by the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra.
In a statement which CP Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer, issued on his behalf, the IGP directed the Commissioner of Police in Imo to carry out holistic investigations into the incident with a view to fishing out the perpetrators and bringing them to justice.
He said the “preliminary investigation revealed that the attackers of Imo state custodial service centre, who came in their numbers with sophisticated weapons such as General-Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs), Sub-Machine Guns (SMGs), AK49 rifles, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), are members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)/Eastern Security Network (ESN)”.