IPOB Replies US Lawmaker: Forced Unity Has Failed to Protect Christians in Nigeria

• IPOB has challenged claims by a US lawmaker that Nigeria’s unity protects Christians, arguing that decades of forced coexistence have failed and that self-determination.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has issued a detailed response to comments attributed to United States Congressman Riley Moore on Nigeria, religious persecution and self-determination, arguing that the preservation of Nigeria’s territorial integrity has failed to protect Christians and other vulnerable groups.

In a statement signed by IPOB spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful, the group described the assumption that a united Nigeria guarantees Christian safety as “deeply flawed” and contradicted by history. According to the statement, decades of centralized governance under Nigeria’s current structure have coincided with repeated massacres, mass displacement, church burnings and entrenched impunity, particularly in Northern Nigeria, the Middle Belt and parts of Yorubaland.

IPOB argued that Nigeria’s crisis is not the result of inadequate security cooperation with foreign partners, but a structural failure rooted in what it described as a forced union between incompatible religious and civilizational systems. The group rejected claims that self-determination emboldens terrorism, insisting that extremist movements thrive where identity is suppressed, autonomy denied and violence rewarded with appeasement.

Drawing international parallels, the statement cited Afghanistan as an example of how decades of military aid and cooperation failed to defeat radical ideology, while historical examples such as Protestant England were used to argue that separation has often provided refuge for persecuted religious minorities.

The group maintained that the agitation led by Nnamdi Kanu is not a call to violence, but a demand for a democratic referendum, which it described as a peaceful and internationally recognised mechanism for resolving deep-seated political conflicts. IPOB said a restored Biafra would serve as a secure homeland for Christians and people of other faiths, offering protection and stability where the Nigerian state has failed.

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The statement further claimed that since IPOB’s emergence, mass killings of Igbos in parts of Northern Nigeria have significantly reduced, attributing this to collective self-assertion rather than state intervention.

While acknowledging the importance of international cooperation against violent extremism, IPOB argued that repeating strategies that have failed for generations while dismissing self-determination only guarantees the continuation of persecution.

The group concluded that genuine peace and stability would come not from enforcing unity at all costs, but from allowing self-rule, dignity and safety for Nigeria’s diverse peoples.