IPOB Says Nigeria No Longer Saf£ For Christians, Declares Peaceful Coexistence Impossible Amid Sharia Debate
IPOB Says Nigeria No Longer Safe For Christians, Declares Peaceful Coexistence Impossible Amid Sharia Debate
IPOB made the statement while reacting to recent reports, including one submitted by American lawmaker Riley Moore to the United States President Donald Trump, concerning the status and application of Sharia penal codes in Nigeria.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christians and other non-Muslim communities, declaring that peaceful coexistence under the country’s current structure is no longer possible.
In a press statement issued on Friday and signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the separatist group said the ongoing national debate surrounding Sharia law highlights deep religious and constitutional contradictions within Nigeria.
IPOB made the statement while reacting to recent reports, including one submitted by American lawmaker Riley Moore to the United States President Donald Trump, concerning the status and application of Sharia penal codes in Nigeria.
“IPOB respects the right of Muslims to practise their religion fully, including Shariah law within their communities,” Powerful stated.
“There is no attempt by us or any credible authority to stop this practice. Our concern lies with the imposition of Shariah on non-Muslims and the denial of basic freedoms to Judeo-Christian communities and other faiths across the North.
“This is not a theoretical debate; it is a matter of life, death, and the survival of entire communities under the ongoing jihad.”
According to IPOB, the ongoing debate over Shariah law exposes the fundamental impossibility of coexistence under Nigeria’s current state structure.
IPOB alleged that Nigeria’s constitutional secularism conceals conflicting legal systems operating within the same territory.
IPOB further accused the Nigerian government of failing to adequately protect citizens from religiously motivated violence, citing incidents in states such as Sokoto, Borno, and Plateau as examples of what it described as systemic persecution.
“Shariah, when enforced beyond its proper community, becomes a weapon of oppression, not a system of justice,” the group stressed.
“Riley Moore’s report is a stark reminder: Nigeria’s so-called secularism is a façade, masking a dangerously fractured legal order where conflicting codes govern the same territory.”
Reiterating its long-standing demand for self-determination, IPOB maintained that the creation of an independent Biafra remains, in its view, the only viable solution to guarantee religious freedom, security, and human dignity.
The group added that a proposed Biafran nation would offer equal citizenship rights and protection for all religious groups, referencing the Igbo philosophy of peaceful coexistence, “Egbe bere, Ugo bere,” meaning “live and let live.”
IPOB also called on the U.S. Congress, the Israeli Knesset, and the wider international community to intervene and acknowledge what it described as worsening conditions for Judeo-Christian communities in Nigeria.
“We call on Riley Moore, US Congress, Israeli Knesset, and the rest of the international community that still has conscience, to recognize the reality on the ground: Nigeria is not a safe home for Judeo-Christians under its current system.
“The ongoing targeting of non-Muslims is real, deliberate, and systemic.”
The Nigerian government has consistently maintained that the country remains a secular state under its constitution and has rejected allegations of systemic religious persecution, stating that ongoing security challenges are being addressed through military and law enforcement operations nationwide.
