He said Kanu described the Biafra Republic Government in Exile as “treasonous to his quest for Biafran statehood”.
Bruce Fein, the international counsel and spokesman for Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said the IPOB leader asked him to inform ‘Biafrans’ that he is against the Biafra Republic Government in Exile, led by his self-proclaimed disciple, Simon Ekpa.
He said Kanu described the Biafra Republic Government in Exile as “treasonous to his quest for Biafran statehood”.
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. However, the secession plan later failed but IPOB has since renewed the advocacy to achieve a separate state of Biafra, which is made up of Southeast Nigeria.
In April, Finland-based Ekpa described himself as the Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE).
Ekpa, in a letter to the United Nations General Assembly, dated April 13, 2023, which he personally signed, urged the global community to recognise Biafra Republic Government in Exile, which he said was established to undertake the political and administrative governance of the ‘Biafra nation’ from outside of ‘Biafra’ territory.
He also appealed to the UN to prevail on the government of Nigeria to unconditionally release Nnamdi Kanu and all ‘Biafrans’ held captive in any dungeon in Nigeria, and conduct a peaceful referendum to enable a peaceful and bloodless exit of Biafra from Nigeria.
According to the letter obtained by SaharaReporters, Ekpa stated that the indigenous people of ‘Biafra’ set up the exile government in their determination to exit the Nigerian state, while enumerating a plethora of reasons why IPOB wants the Southeast region to exit from Nigeria.
According to Ekpa, the Biafra Government in Exile will "undertake diplomatic and foreign relationships, arrangements and agreements, negotiations and pacts with other nations and interest organisations of the world on behalf of Biafra People”.
But on Tuesday, Fein in a tweet said, “MNK (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) has asked me to communicate to Biafrans his repudiation of the faux Biafra Republic Government in Exile treasonous to his quest for Biafran statehood.
“Stay away. The traitors have ostensibly established a presence in Maryland USA. A steep legal price for perfidy is coming.”
Earlier in May, Ekpa wrote to the ECOWAS Court over the ‘indefinite’ adjournment of a lawsuit brought before the regional court by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) to seek a referendum for the Biafra Republic.
This was seen in a letter signed by Ekpa in his newly proclaimed capacity as the Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile (BRGIE).
The letter was dated May 8, 2023, and addressed to the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS Court.