France and the United Kingdom yesterday, separately denied any complicity on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) crisis, saying they were never contacted by Nigeria on the issue.
The Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had on Wednesday referred to
France as the financial headquarters of IPOB and complained that the British
government allowed the group’s Radio Biafra to operate on its soil despite all
the damages it is doing to Nigeria.
The French embassy
in Abuja, in a statement yesterday by its Political Counsellor, Claude Abily,
dismissed the minister’s remarks. “The Embassy of France was surprised by the
statement made yesterday by the Minister of Information and Culture indicating
that the “financial headquarters” of IPOB were 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,” it
said. Similarly, the United Kingdom said yesterday that it did not receive any
request from the Nigerian government to shut Radio Biafra.
Lai Mohammed had
said that “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 damages it (Radio Biafra) has done, but they don’t see it that way,
for them (the British government), it is about freedom of expression.” The British High Commission, in a statement
by its Press & Public Affairs Officer, Joe Abuku, said “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.”
Dailytrust
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