Okonjo-Iweala denies helping ‘Biafra Republic’ to facilitate loan from IMF, World Bank

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has denied the report that she helped the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE), a secessionist movement seeking to create an independent nation from the South East Nigeria, to facilitate loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Simon Ekpa, a self-acclaimed prime minister of BRGIE residing in Finland, posted on his X account on Wednesday that the Bretton Woods institutions have loaned the sum of $57.5 billion to the illegal republic to form a government. He thanked Okonjo-Iweala for helping to facilitate the loan.

Reacting to the development, the DG WTO described Ekpa’s statement as false, enjoining those seeking to misuse her name to desist from it.

“I know no sensible person will believe what is contained in the outrageous tweet below but in these troubled times it is important to underscore that the statement is false. Again I enjoin all those seeking to misuse my name to desist!,” Okonjo-Iweala said in a post on her X account on Thursday.

Ekpa has claimed responsibility for attacks on Nigerian security forces and individuals suspected of supporting Nigeria.

He justified these actions as retaliation against what he describes as the terror inflicted by Nigerian security forces on “Biafra territory.”

Read also: Seeing the Igbos as defeated Biafrans in Nigeria

Operating from Finland, Ekpa advocates for extreme measures to achieve the secession of the Southeast and parts of neighbouring states from Nigeria to form a sovereign Biafra nation, a move that sparked Nigeria’s Civil War from 1967 to 1970.

His tactics include enforcing an illegal stay-at-home order every Monday in the region, leading to huge economic disruption as residents comply out of fear of violence. He also targets federal institutions through his enforcers.

Ekpa has parted ways with Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of IPOB, over differences in their approach to achieving Biafran independence.

Kanu, a dual British and Nigerian citizen, has been held by Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS) since June 2021 after being re-arrested in Kenya. He faces charges of treasonable felony in Abuja.

The Nigerian government has accused Finland and the European Union of allowing Ekpa to continue his activities, which they say are destabilising the Southeast region.