Ibadan Explosion: Simon Ekpa Exploits Tragedy to Spread Hate, Misinformation

By Adedoja Samuel Adesoji

Amidst the lingering aftermath of the explosion that shook Ibadan last night, some Nigerians of Igbo descent on social media platform X have been seen mocking and jubilating about the incident which resulted injuries and rendered many homeless.

This reflects the spread of animosity towards the Yoruba as a whole.

Taking advantage of the situation, Simon Ekpa, the leader of IPOB in the diaspora, utilized his X account today to disseminate misinformation.

He employed images of the explosion site to falsely claim a conspiracy orchestrated by Vice-President Kassim Shettima against the Igbo community in the area.

Ekpa urged the Igbo people to take action and return to their homeland.

He said: “PHOTO STORY: Aerial footage from a drone showing impact of explosion in Bodija area of Ibadan, Oyo State.

“This is a terrorist attack on Biafra dominated area in Yorubaland, it is part of the on-going pogrom against Igbo Biafrans and their businesses across Yorubaland.
This was the current Vice President Shettima planned many years ago with his Islamic state caliphate.
“We will continue to call on Biafrans to return home where their lives and properties can be secured and saved.

“They claim the explosion was caused by explosive devices stored up by illegal miners, it is lie and fallacy.”

The reckless tweets by Ekpa have garnered widespread attention among the Igbo community, while indigenous Yorubas have vehemently refuted and criticized such hasty and callous outbursts.

A user on X, @ogbenidipo reacts “What is the National Orientation Agency doing to counter the very dangerous messages continuously shared by Simon Ekpa? The self-inflicted damage these guys have done will take another 30-50 years to heal. But they are still doing more damage.”