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Sequel to a statement credited to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that the governments of France and United Kingdom are funding the activities of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, the representatives of both governments in Nigeria have denied having a hand in the crisis.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Minister on Wednesday said while France was funding the separatist group, the United Kingdom was providing an operating space for its broadcast arm.
In his words: “Let me tell you, the financial headquarters is in France, we know, but you see, can you as a government stop sending money to your parents? You have to block the sources of finance that is what I said recently.
“It is incontrovertible that some people in the diaspora contribute money to IPOB. We know this as a fact. Again, there are a few knotty diplomatic issues which you need to skip. For instance, who does not know that the IPOB internal radio is located in London? We know the diplomatic moves we have been taking and approaching the UK, all the damage it has done; but they don’t see it that way. For them, it is about freedom of expression.
“If we have a person in Nigeria openly soliciting arms to come and fight the UK, what would you think of it. Would you consider that freedom of expression? And this is a country that also has had a history; what did the Irish Repubublican Army (IRA) do to be labelled a terrorist organisation? They were planting bombs, they were fighting the British army.
“I don’t want any diplomatic row. We know for a fact where the funding is coming from and we are going to stop them but it is difficult to stop them and we have been working on it and we will not stop.”
However, in a swift reaction, both countries in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday said they are strongly in support of Nigeria’s unity.
The French government denied any knowledge of IPOB presence in its country, saying it is strongly in support of Nigeria’s unity.
This Political Counsellor, Embassy of France in Nigeria, Mr. Claude Abily, said the statement was shocking to the French government.
Abily said his country has been cooperating with Nigeria in the area of security.
The statement reads: “The Embassy of France was surprised by the statement made yesterday (Wednesday) by the Minister of Information and Culture indicating that the ‘financial headquarters’ of IPOB was in France.
“We don’t have any knowledge of a particular presence of IPOB in France and the Nigerian authorities never got in touch with the Embassy on this point.
“We stand ready to examine any information which could support this statement.
“Furthermore, we would like to reiterate that France actively cooperates with Nigeria in the field of security and that we strongly support the unity of the country.”
On its part, the British government said it was not aware of any representation from its Nigerian counterpart about Radio Biafra.
The statement reads: “The UK is not aware of any representation from the Nigerian government about Radio Biafra. Were we to receive any such request, we would of course consider it carefully on the basis of the available evidence, recognising that freedom of speech and expression carries responsibilities.”