•French Embassy Abuja
The French Government has denied reports it is housing the financial headquarters of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
The country was reacting to a statement credited to Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed.
The Minister had claimed that the group had its headquarters in France where it raises money from Nigerians in Diaspora and some foreign countries.
“We have the records, we know IPOB collects money from many people from Diaspora; they collect money from many people in Nigeria, they collect money from some foreign countries, this is clear,” he said.
“Let me tell you, the financial headquarters is in France, we know, but you see, can you as a government stop sending money to your parents? You have to block the sources of finance, that is what I said recently.”
However in its own statement, the French Government has denied knowledge of the alleged headquarters.
France also pledged its commitment to Nigeria’s unity and pledged to cooperate with Nigeria in the area of security.
“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.” A statement from the French Embassy read
“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."
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