{"id":73998,"date":"2020-06-07T19:42:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T18:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=73998"},"modified":"2020-06-07T19:42:23","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T18:42:23","slug":"presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The Presidency has raised the alarm, accusing the Indigenous People of<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Biafra, IPOB, of using the killing of Christians to wage war against the
\nNigerian State.<\/p>\n

The Presidency said IPOB is using “false allegations of persecution of
\nChristians” against the Nigerian State to drive a wedge between the
\ncountry and the United States, United Kingdom and European allies,
\naccording to a statement signed by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant
\non Media and Publicity to President Mohammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n

The Statement reads:<\/p>\n

“The Presidency wishes to draw the attention of all citizens and the
\ninternational community to a most misleading campaign spearheaded by the
\nso-called Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) using false allegations of
\npersecution of Christians against the Nigerian State.<\/p>\n

“A very deep and wide investigation by an agency of the Nigerian
\ngovernment, working with international partners have made us become
\naware that there are two, interconnected campaigns being run
\nconcurrently by the IPOB in this regard.<\/p>\n

“Both are using the cover of Christianity \u2013 and calling for a US Special
\nEnvoy to be appointed to stop the “genocide” of Christians in Nigeria.
\nBut the real purpose is to drive a wedge between the Nigeria government
\nand its US and UK\/European allies.<\/p>\n

“IPOB leadership of course self-proclaims as “Jewish,” a position not
\nshared by the generality of the members.<\/p>\n

“For reasons of convenience, he claims to have an interest in the
\nwelfare of Christians \u2013 but this is a ruse: the case for independence,
\nthe leader believes, is strengthened by “proving” the government of
\nNigeria is “autocratic”, engaged in a “silent slaughter” of their own
\ncitizens along religion and ethnic lines \u2013 and that therefore the only
\nviable option for the unique religious and ethnic minority is a
\nsovereign Biafra separate from Nigeria.<\/p>\n

“Nigerians and the international community are advised to be wary of
\nthis divisive campaign, which available evidence shows\u00a0 is being funded
\nwith a monthly spending of $85,000 USD since October 2019, with no
\nrecords of the source of this largesse.<\/p>\n

“The campaign consists of producing articles in the names of the alleged
\nChristian NGOs’ leaders (of campaign groups created at the time this PR
\ncontract with a US lobbying firm was signed) and letters to and from
\nmembers of Congress to the White House.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, some Members of Congress have clearly been persuaded
\nthere is indeed a “Christian persecution” underway in Nigeria \u2013 and do
\nso quoting the campaign \u2013 and they are known to be taking up the case
\ndirectly with the White House to appoint the special envoy.<\/p>\n

“The American charity secured a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike
\nPompeo and has made presentations to the US Commission on International
\nReligious Freedom.<\/p>\n

“There is also a UK and European angle of the Campaign, which is more
\nopaque than its US sister campaign \u2013 given there is less legal
\nrequirement for public filings \u2013 but what is known of this at the moment
\nis that their Budget is sufficient to hire four PR firms in the UK,
\nBelgium, France and the US (the latter additional to the above).<\/p>\n

“They have founded an “NGO\/Charity” and a linked web-based campaign
\nnamed “Stop the Silent Slaughter” which is well designed and complete
\nwith video “evidence”-completely concocted.<\/p>\n

“Members of the alleged Christian NGO have had multiple Op-Ed articles
\nin conservative news websites promulgating their message of a “Christian
\nGenocide”. Some of those articles have also been used as “evidence” in
\nthe sister US campaign.<\/p>\n

“Two of those conservative news websites were co-founded by the owner of
\nthe UK PR firm they have hired to generate their publicity as well as an
\nOP-Ed article in the name of a British MP who may have been convinced by
\ntheir campaign under false pretences.<\/p>\n

“They have secured additional coverage in France, EU and Germany.<\/p>\n

“They secured a MPs debate on the “Christian Genocide” in the House of
\nCommons in which staff member of the UK PR was referenced as the
\n“private secretary” to the leader of the UK-based Charity.<\/p>\n

“It is clear from all of the above that the IPOB’s extraordinarily and
\ndubiously well-funded campaign in the US and UK\/Europe is misusing the
\nissue of the welfare of Christians purely to further their own political
\nends, and it seeks to damage inter-religious dialogue in Nigeria as well
\nas to damage the international reputation of Nigeria.<\/p>\n

“Nigerians and the international community are hereby advised to ignore
\nthis campaign as they have disregarded similar past campaigns originated
\nby this group which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by
\nthe Nigerian State.<\/p>\n

“International groups and societies are welcome to send representatives
\nto Nigeria and give a lie to the false claims made by these terrorist
\ngroups who are duping them of their money and involving them in conduct
\nand activities disguised to destroy the harmonious relationships
\nexisting between their home countries and Nigeria.”<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Presidency has raised the alarm, accusing the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, of using the killing of Christians to wage war against the Nigerian State. The Presidency said IPOB…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nPresidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Presidency has raised the alarm, accusing the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, of using the killing of Christians to wage war against the Nigerian State. The Presidency said IPOB…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-07T18:42:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"821\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-07T18:42:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/\"},\"wordCount\":815,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Exclusive\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-07T18:42:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg\",\"width\":821,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria - Pointblank News","og_description":"The Presidency has raised the alarm, accusing the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, of using the killing of Christians to wage war against the Nigerian State. The Presidency said IPOB…","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2020-06-07T18:42:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":821,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria","datePublished":"2020-06-07T18:42:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/"},"wordCount":815,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg","articleSection":["Exclusive"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/","name":"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg","datePublished":"2020-06-07T18:42:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Garba-Shehu.jpg","width":821,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/presidency-accuses-ipob-of-using-christianity-to-wage-war-against-nigeria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Presidency Accuses IPOB of Using Christianity To Wage War Against Nigeria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}