What is the connection between the pro-Biafran separatist terror group and an infamously vague but violent militia? Here’s what we learnt from studying hundreds of social media posts by IPOB-affiliated accounts.
Key takeaways:
- IPOB accounts on Facebook and other social media platforms began amplifying unknown gunmen attacks in early 2021, coinciding with a huge spike in the mentions of ‘unknown gunmen’ in local news articles.
- Many of the posts regarding unknown gunmen, especially cases of amplification and disinformation, have signs of being part of a coordinated campaign.
- The different factions of IPOB have divergent views of unknown gunmen activities, with one opposing and the other expressing tacit support.
- IPOB has strategic reasons not to associate itself with the violence the UGM group has become notorious for.
- Returning to Radio Biafra broadcasts from 2020 can help to understand the possible origins of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Unknown Gunmen (UGM) — as well as the links between them.
Ten years ago, the southeastern part of Nigeria was the country’s safest region. But that changed in 2021 as bubbling agitations for a breakaway state turned violent. At the centre of this crisis is an evasive group that’s come to be known as the ‘Unknown Gunmen’ — UGM for short. They have been blamed for deadly attacks on police stations, military checkpoints, and civilians. While no one would take responsibility for these acts of violence, one group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), raises far more suspicion than others. A careful look through years of social media propaganda shows why.
Let’s start with some background information.
Nigeria went to war in 1967 after the Republic of Biafra declared independence under the leadership of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, then military governor of the eastern region. The war ended three years later after hundreds of thousands of lives were lost, many of them to starvation, but calls for the secession of Biafra have not ceased. Kenny Nwannekaenyi Okwu-Kanu (popularly known as Nnamdi Kanu), a British-Nigerian national who gained prominence as director of London-based broadcaster Radio Biafra, joined forces with Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor to establish IPOB. Their goal was to restore the sovereignty of Biafra with “renewed vigour”. While it is not clear exactly when IPOB emerged, some of the earliest records date back to 2013. Mefor and Kanu first registered the Indigenous People of Biafra with the UK government in Oct. 2013 and then again in July 2014.
The group started by organising peaceful protests, broadcasting its campaign online, and rallying a group of supporters locally and internationally within the diaspora community. Kanu became notorious for his unrestrained, often treasonous and hateful, language. At the World Igbo Conference in Los Angeles in Sept. 2015, he said, “We need guns and we need bullets to defend our land or else our people will perish at home.” About a month later, Nigerian intelligence officers arrested him in Lagos, leading to a wave of protests and grave police clampdown. Kanu jumped bail in 2017.
During the #EndSARS anti-police brutality demonstrations in Oct. 2020, Kanu released several statements on Radio Biafra where he urged his followers to kill security personnel and hunt politicians such as Abia state governor Okezie Ikpeazu, former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu, and Rivers governor Nyesom Wike. “Anybody wearing police or army uniform is an enemy of the people. Anywhere you see them, you take them down,” he announced in one broadcast. After a period of calling on security agents to resign and join the “Peoples Revolutionary Army/Force”, in Dec. 2020, IPOB launched the Eastern Security Network (ESN), touting it as a vigilante group set up to protect civilians in the region from foreign invaders. Instead, it marked the beginning of a dark episode in southeastern Nigeria.
Attacks on security personnel and structures increased. High-handed military offensives targeted at crushing the ESN inflamed passions, with IPOB declaring that it saw it as a declaration of war. “They shall be shamefully defeated. The war has begun! We shall defend Biafra and we shall triumph!” said spokesperson Emma Powerful. Kanu’s re-arrest in June 2021 and his continued detention led to the IPOB breaking up into at least two factions: the Directorate of State (DOS) and the more radical Autopilot.
Enters Unknown Gunmen.
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