Israeli Embassy Reacts As DSS Arrests Israeli Filmmakers In Nigeria Over Alleged Support For IPOB Members

By Edna Wande Last updated Jul 14, 2021

DSS Reportedly Arrests Israeli Filmmakers In Nigeria Over Alleged Contact With IPOB Members — Three Israeli filmmakers.

Department of Security Service (DSS) has arrested, detained and reportedly tortured three Israeli filmmakers over allegations that they supported the activities of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

According to Times of Israel, a Zionist activist, Rudy Rochman, filmmaker Noam Leibman and French-Israeli Journalist E. David Benaym were arrested last week when they visited Ogidi village, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State to shoot a documentary.

The trio was said to have taken off from Ben Gurion Airport, Israel on July 5 and arrived in Nigeria the following day to film the documentary, “We Were Never Lost” which explores Jewish communities in African countries such as Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, and Nigeria.

Locals said the SSS operatives interrogated and detained the crew at a synagogue during Friday night services in Ogidi and were subsequently taken to Abuja.

Meanwhile, according to the Foreign Ministry, the Israeli Embassy in Abuja is following the case closely and is in contact with Nigerian authorities, PeoplesGazette reports.

Also, “We Were Never Lost” Facebook page stressed;

We do not take any position on political movements as we are not here as politicians nor as a part of any governmental delegations.

Last week, the group met with Igbo leader, Eze Chukwuemeka Eri, and presented him with a framed Shiviti made in Jerusalem.

Israel x Igbo are locking arms 💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/jocnVpRUo8

— Kal Afrorock (@kalafrorock) July 14, 2021

Rochman also presented another Igbo community with a Torah scroll whose cover was designed by British-Israeli street artist, Solomon Souza.

Thank you Israel🇮🇱 for the Torah gift to my Igbo people. Shalom ✡️#KeepItOn pic.twitter.com/1EdGEk7M5H

— Kal Afrorock (@kalafrorock) July 14, 2021

This comes as the Igbos consider themselves a lost tribe of Israel.

The latest development comes on the heels of the arrest and repatriation of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya.

He was granted bail in April 2017 for health reasons but skipped bail after disregarding some of the conditions given to him by the court.

Kanu, a former London estate agent, heads IPOB and the outlawed pirate radio station Radio Biafra.

He maintains the Igbo people, who are in the majority in southeast Nigeria, are a lost tribe of Israel and it is his mission to lead them to the promised land of Biafra.

In 2018, Kanu gave a radio broadcast saying he was in Israel and indicating he owed his survival to the Jewish state.

While he fled Nigeria to Israel in 2018, the IPOB leader said Israel must rise to defend millions of Igbo Jews in Nigeria, after soldiers invaded his residence.

He said;

Israel has to live up to their obligation to defend Judaism and Jewish faith all over the world. We are being persecuted. We are suffering as a people and I believe it is the responsibility of Israel to make sure that Biafra stands as an independent entity in Africa.

Biafra has over 70 million people scattered all over the world. They have called us the wandering Jews of Africa. Those that identify themselves with their Jewish heritage are about 50 million people.

However on June 21, Federal Government announced Kanu’s arrest and extradition to Nigeria from Kenya to continue facing trial.

He was subsequently arraigned before Binta Nyako, a Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Kanu faces an 11-count charge of treason, treasonable felony, terrorism, and illegal possession of firearms, among others.