Reacting to Garba Shehu’s confession that the rodent invasion narrative was fabricated to distract the public from Buhari’s medical condition, IPOB said the revelation affirms Kanu’s long-standing claim that Nigeria’s leadership was built on deception and cover-ups.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared that Garba Shehu’s recent admission regarding the now-infamous “villa rat” story has vindicated its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and his early warnings about former President, Muhammadu Buhari’s failing health and absence from governance.
Reacting to Garba Shehu’s confession that the rodent invasion narrative was fabricated to distract the public from Buhari’s medical condition, IPOB said the revelation affirms Kanu’s long-standing claim that Nigeria’s leadership was built on deception and cover-ups.
In a statement issued Saturday by IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, the group accused the former presidential media aide of orchestrating “a national charade to fool over 200 million people” while persecuting those who sought to expose the truth.
“The IPOB under the leadership of our incorruptible and prophetically gifted leader, Nnamdi Kanu, notes with righteous vindication the stunning admission by Garba Shehu, former spokesman to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, that the now-infamous ‘villa rat invasion’ story was a calculated lie to cover up Buhari’s prolonged illness and absence from governance,” the statement said.
“Let the world take note: what Mazi Nnamdi Kanu said years ago on Radio Biafra, that Muhammadu Buhari was gravely ill and incapable of leading Nigeria, and that Aso Rock was enmeshed in a web of lies and deception, has now been confirmed by one of the principal architects of that deception himself.”
Powerful lambasted Shehu for branding Kanu’s warnings as “fake news” and “hate speech,” only to later admit that a deliberate media manipulation was deployed to hide the president’s health condition.
“The same Garba Shehu who accused our leader of ‘fake news’ and ‘hate speech’, has now confessed, with no shame, that they orchestrated a national charade to fool over 200 million people. What greater treason can be committed than lying to an entire nation about the health and whereabouts of its so-called president?”
IPOB argued that Kanu’s persecution was unjust and based on truths the government was afraid to admit.
“This disgraceful confirmation vindicates everything Kanu has ever said about the fraudulent and deceptive nature of the Nigerian state. He told the truth and was persecuted for it.”
” He warned Nigerians that their President was missing in action, that shadowy forces had hijacked the machinery of government, and that the people were being ruled by deception.”
“Instead of investigating the truth, the Nigerian media and political elite mocked him. They ridiculed his divine insight. They arrested him. They tortured him. They abducted and renditioned him. But they could not bury the truth.”
The statement questioned why Shehu and others involved in the cover-up had not been held accountable.
“Where was this honesty when the Nigerian people needed it? Where was this ‘truth’ when IPOB and our leader were being vilified, jailed, and labeled terrorists for speaking it?.”
” If this level of deliberate misinformation had happened in any sane society, those responsible would be in jail for subverting the constitution, undermining national security, and deceiving the electorate. But Nigeria rewards mediocrity, protects liars, and punishes truth-tellers.”
Reaffirming Kanu’s credibility, IPOB stated: “Let it be clearly stated once again: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu does not lie. He does not speculate. He speaks only divine truth, and every word he has ever uttered is manifesting before your eyes.”
“From the exposure of Buhari’s health fraud, to the Fulani expansionist agenda, to the illegality of his abduction and extraordinary rendition — time continues to prove Mazi Nnamdi Kanu right.”
“Those who still doubt the divine calling of our leader should watch as every falsehood told against him crumbles one after the other.”
“The truth is like the rising sun — it cannot be suppressed. Today Garba Shehu has confessed. Tomorrow others will follow. Aso Rock is a house built on lies, and the foundation is shaking.”
The pro-Biafran group called on Nigerians and the international community to recognize what it described as “a regime built on falsehood and repression.”
“You now have confirmation from the mouth of the regime’s own spokesperson that the Nigerian people were lied to on a grand scale. If this does not concern you, then you are complicit.”
“In the words of our leader: we are without fear before our enemies” and “in the end, we always win.”
Shehu’s admission came in his recently launched book, “According to the President; Lessons from the Presidential Spokesperson Experience” where he detailed how the story about rats damaging Buhari’s office was fabricated to mask the president’s incapacity following his return from a three-month medical leave in the UK in 2017.
As public concerns grew over Buhari’s health and absence from duties, Shehu said he used a casual office conversation about cable damage to deflect attention.
“I told them that rats may have eaten and damaged cables and that renovations were ongoing,” he wrote.
The IPOB says that this revelation confirms that “Aso Rock was never honest with the Nigerian people,” and reinforces its stance that only the full truth can lead to justice and self-determination.
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