Presidential spokesperson, Daniel Bwala, has said members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are using white people's names and faces on social media to spread Christian genocide claims.

According to Bwala, the proscribed group is angry that the Nigerian government exposed their lies about genocide in the country.

He shared on X, "Funny, IPOB members using white men and women faces with names sounding foreign to populate Twitter and Facebook, purporting to be Americans reacting to issues. One criminal by the name Elias Gerasoulis is all over attacking people and suggesting he is a white man in Washington. They are angered by the fact that we exposed them as elements behind the hoax Christian genocide; Reuters, BBC and others as well found them out in that deception. Nonsense and ingredient."

MyNigeria reported that Bwala had earlier alleged that IPOB began the propaganda in 2016.

He made this known while speaking during an interview on TVC’s 'Your View.'

This development coincides with the United States’ recent decision to label Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, citing reports of genocidal violence targeting Christians.

However, Bwala said: “Since that IPOB started this thing as far back as 2016, amplifying the false narrative that there is a genocide against the Christians in Nigeria.

"Those that are killed are more of the Islamic faith than of the Christian faith. And government will be irresponsible if all we sit down, we’ll be talking about how many are killed Christians, how many are killed Muslims.

"That’s why we’ve maintained consistently the position that it is criminal elements, and we are joining and forcing a common force so we can find them; we don’t profile the killing.

"Now, those who profile the killing actually are the people who have an agenda against the Nigerian state. And this whole hoax of Christian genocide started from IPOB.

"There was an investigative report that was conducted last week. I think Arise News mirrored that in their Stories Trending, which says that IPOB started this thing as far back as 2016, amplifying the false narrative that there is a genocide against the Christians in Nigeria.

"Unfortunately, that fake news, that falsehood, made it to the ears of senators in the United States, like Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Randy Moore, and the rest of them. This is the kind of quagmire that we have found ourselves in.

"But dialogue helps in deepening the conversation and identifying the problem. First, we and the American government have a lot of things that we have shared interests in.

"So this is how you start a diplomacy conversation, find areas where you both agree, and then you realise that the areas you disagree are not as much as the areas you agree, and you’ll find a solution to it.”

ASA