‘We shall triumph like the Jews’: unveiling the implicit side of IPOB’s armed separatism in Southeast Nigeria

This study investigated the impetus for the armed separatism of the Indigenous Peoples Of Biafra (IPOB). Drawing from a mixed method design utilizing a cross-sectional survey and qualitative study, seventy five (75) agitators were purposively sampled to assess the trajectory of revivified armed struggle for the independence of Biafra in Southeast Nigeria. Informed conversations on neo-Biafra movements are mainly constructed around state repression, socio-political exclusion and terrorism. This study focused on how ancient Israel’s providential war victories are renegotiated in IPOB’s armed struggle against the Nigerian state. The article specifically assessed how the influences from Jewish triumphant war narratives and self-rule are re-enacted in the IPOB’s armed struggle towards achieving Biafra’s independence in Southeast Nigeria. The findings indicated that the more religiously motivated participants are, the more their zest and proclivity to armed struggle for an independent state of Biafra (β = 0.25; t = 2.12; P < 0.05). Hence, the renewed armed struggle for an independent state of Biafra was largely traced to religious motivation and proclivity to violence F (2, 74) = 2.26, P < 0.05. In line with the findings, conclusions were drawn and implications were examined. The study uncovers the motivation behind the reinvigoration of the IPOB movement and their perception of Elohim’s (God) backing to have been drawn from the Jews’ past armed insurrection, war successes and eventual political freedom. This account maps into the discourse on how religious beliefs frame the struggle for political independence in postcolonial settings.