The French embassy in Nigeria has reacted to claims by the President Muhammed Buhari administration which say the European country is the financial headquarters of Independent People of Biafra.
Information minister, Lai Mohammed had made the allegation publicly. He said, “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.
“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.
The French embassy however denied the claim in a statement signed by the Political Counsellor, Embassy of France in Nigeria, Claude Abily, challenged the Federal Government of Nigeria to provide documentary evidence to substantiate its claims that France was the financial headquarters of the separatist group.
“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,” the Embassy said.
Leave a Reply