IPOB Rejects Tinubu’s Proposed Cattle Ranches, Calls It Repackaged Ruga and Land Grab

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has strongly condemned President Bola Tinubu’s recent proposal to establish cattle ranches in Abuja and other parts of Nigeria, describing it as a “repackaged Ruga” and a strategic land-grab masked as national policy.

In a statement released on Tuesday, IPOB’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful, accused the federal government of prioritizing cattle over critical national needs like education, innovation, and security.

“It is a shame that in the 21st century, the Nigerian government is more concerned with cow colonies than human development,” he said.
“Is President Tinubu unaware that no sane country permits cattle settlements around its capital? Let him name one—from Nairobi to New Delhi or Seoul—where such absurdity exists.”

Powerful criticized the proposed ranching plan in Abuja, emphasizing that the land belongs to the Gbagi people, the region’s indigenous inhabitants.

“To dispossess the Gbagi by executive order is not just unjust—it’s cultural genocide,” he added.
“Today they’re being displaced; tomorrow there will be an Emir of Abuja. In 60 years, like the Hausas, the Gbagi could be erased from history.”

He further warned that IPOB would resist any attempt to establish cattle settlements or grazing routes in any part of Biafraland, declaring that the group will protect its ancestral land, forests, and farmlands from what it called “a federal contract of death.”

“Let livestock be transported by rail like it’s done in civilized nations,” the statement said.
“No progressive country builds ranches next to homes, schools, or marketplaces.”

IPOB also voiced solidarity with the Gbagi people and other indigenous groups it believes are threatened by what it described as a “Fulani neo-colonial conquest disguised as national policy.”

“Our diversity must be respected, our cultures preserved, and our lands protected. Let the killings in the name of cows stop. Let reason prevail over ruin,” the statement concluded.