Despite these developments, the separatists claimed that their militant operations were mainly aimed at defending local communities from armed herders and bandits instead of fighting the Nigerian government.

[32][33] Some Niger Delta communities such as the Ijaw people even integrated anti-Biafran sentiment into their own popular narratives, as they had mostly sided with the central government during the Nigerian Civil War.

Unwilling to countenance the formation of a non-state-sanctioned paramilitary organization on its territory, the Nigerian government deployed the army to locate ESN camps two weeks later.

[57] The same day as hostilities were renewed, IPOB said that the military deployment constituted a "declaration of war against the Igbos" and accused the Nigerian government of planning a "final solution to the Biafran question".

[65] Days later, Nnamdi Kanu declared that the ESN had captured a prominent Fulani bandit leader named Mohammed Isa in Benue State.

[66] In mid-March, the leader of the Niger Delta People's Salvation Force, Asari-Dokubo, declared the formation of the Biafra Customary Government (BCG).

IPOB strongly denied these claims, arguing that it remained committed to non-violent solutions and had no interest in openly fighting against Nigerian security forces.

In response, IPOB leader Kanu reiterated that the ESN was primarily concerned with combating banditry by "Fulani jihadists" and accused Gumi of becoming a "mouthpiece for bandits and terrorists".

[89] Following the IPOB leader's detention, his "self-acclaimed disciple" Simon Ekpa rose to prominence, promising that Biafran activists would prevent the Anambra State gubernatorial election of November 2021.

[29] In early July, security forces arrested ESN commander Emeoyiri Uzorma Benjamin (alias "Onye Army"), accusing him and his followers of killings, destruction of property, and atrocities in Imo State.

[94] In late July, a military officer was injured by suspected ESN militants in Ohafia, Abia, reportedly prompting security forces to take revenge by storming the town and destroying several houses.

Amnesty International argued that the security forces had made numerous arbitrary arrests of often uninvolved civilians, and accused them of human rights abuses.

The trial was accompanied by protests of the separatist leader's supporters, and Voice of America journalist Timothy Obiezu argued that IPOB appeared to be gaining strength instead of losing it.

[97] From early October 2021, the 302 Artillery Regiment led by Col. Abdulkarim Usman launched "Exercise Golden Dawn", an operation aimed at combating MASSOB, IPOB, ESN, and other anti-government groups in Anambra State.

[14] Meanwhile, a separatist militia called "Angry Vipers" demanded the release of Kanu and threatened various figures including businessman Obi Cubana who they believed supported Fulani herders.

In response, Nigerian Army troops involved in "Exercise Golden Dawn" attacked a nearby location suspected of harboring ESN militants.

[101] In contrast, the "International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law" claimed that the army had actually detained Godwin Nnaji, a civilian with IPOB sympathies, and falsely portrayed him as an ESN leader.

BNL condemned Asari's call for violence, arguing that IPOB had indeed sidelined and offended other Biafran groups, but that this should not cause violent infighting among the anti-government forces.

[104] In this month suspected IPOB members also abducted an ex-Assembly speaker and four others in Imo State,[105] while the Nigerian Armed Forces claimed the destruction of an IPOB/ESN stronghold in Lilu forest at Ihiala.

[1] On 1 February, claims began to circulate on social media according to which "Black Marine", a group suspected of being part of the BNL, had killed a Nigerian Navy officer at Oron Beach.

[113] In the second half of May, suspected IPOB militants carried out a series of killings: Okechukwu Okoye, a member of the Anambra State House of Assembly, and his aide were abducted and murdered on 15 May;[114][115] seven days later, separatist militants murdered 11 northerners in Anambra State: a pregnant woman and her four children in Orumba North; five commercial motorcycle riders in Onocha, and a salesman at Nnanka.

[119] Meanwhile, IPOB suspected militants attempted to disrupt the preparations for the 2023 Nigerian elections, attacking offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) across the southeast.

[123] IPOB continued to accuse local security forces of cooperating with militant herdsmen and Islamists, describing the new head of the 82 Division, Major General Ahmed Chinade, as "another Fulani stooge and Igbo hater" who previously had killed and abused "Biafrans" in the Port Harcourt area.

[138] On 14 February, the Federal High Court in Abakaliki ordered the disbandment of the Ebube Agu network in Ebonyi State, declaring the group an illegal armed force.

[139] In April 2023, Simon Ekpa declared himself "Prime Minister" of the Biafran Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE), calling for the United Nations to acknowledge Biafra and release Nnamdi Kanu.

[140] Meanwhile, suspected separatist rebels ambushed a convoy of U.S. Embassy staffers at Ogbaru in Anambra State, killing two policemen and two local workers, while abducting three others.

[144] Around this time, repeated rebel raids heavily affected the town of Izombe, burning houses, killing the local traditional ruler Victor Ijioma, and causing many residents to flee.

[145] On 4 September 2023, Simon Ekpa released a video displaying weapons purportedly belonging to a group he dubbed "Biafran Liberation Army" (BLA),[146] followed shortly by an ambush that resulted in the deaths of five to eight security personnel in Imo State.

[152] However, suspected IPOB/ESN militants ambushed a Nigerian military convoy engaged in "Operation Udoka" in May, killing five soldiers and six civilians at Aba in Abia State.

[153][154] By mid-2024, a "vast stretch" of woodlands (about 700 hectares) between Anambra and Imo States had reportedly become a "no man's land" controlled by pro-Biafran militants, many loyal to IPOB.