#Biafra: Igbo leaders behind Nnamdi Kanu

Freedom is an expensive gift always worth fighting for, even if it costs us”, Marck E. Estemil. This submission aptly underscores the resolution of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) led by its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu to sustain its struggle for a separate State of Biafra.


 Since his arrest in October 2015 over an alleged treasonable felony, among other charges, Kanu has been in detention in Kuje prison even despite the ruling of the Federal High court which had ordered for his immediate release.

 Although the Federal Government has been under intense criticism for ignoring the order of the court of competent jurisdiction, there is nothing to suggest that President Muhammadu Buhari is ready to let him off the hook unless he and his group decide to back out of the struggle. But from their hard line position, neither Kanu nor members of his group are ready to trade off the agitation for freedom.

 Even in the face of all entreaties from different concerned pressure groups to secure his conditional release, Kanu has said it time and again without equivocation that nothing would make him give up the struggle. However, there appears to be a new hope in the horizon for possible resolution of this logjam. This is coming on the heels of the intervention from some prominent Igbo leaders and professional bodies who have formed pressure groups to compel the Federal Government to make good his words on its commitment to the rule of law by obeying the pronouncement of the court and set Kanu free unconditionally. On Tuesday, a former Central Bank governor, Charles Soludo, and some key leaders of the south-east region met in Abuja to demand the release of Kanu based on the general yearning for “national cohesion”.

 Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Mr. Soludo said the Buhari-led administration of the All Progressive Congress (APC) should join hands with other Nigerians to bring about a new Nigeria, agreed to by its constituent parts and citizens. A presidential aspirant in the 2011 general election, Prof Pat Utomi and a former head of Nigeria’s electricity regulator, Sam Amadi, were also in attendance at the meeting. The group said Nigeria cannot succeed by “suppressing legitimate agitations or democratic expressions”.

 “It is our considered view that much of the increasingly desperate agitations are in response to the failures of the dysfunctional/looting elite and poor governance in the context of a failing state that offers increasingly vanishing opportunities and hope for its youth and future generations,” the group said in a prepared statement read by Mr. Soludo.” “We do not condone violence, criminality or brigandage of any sort, and nor should any state do so. However, by failing or refusing to address the fundamental issues and instead concentrating on the symptoms, Nigeria runs the grave risk of turning the entire country into a large prison,” it added. Soludo further blamed the separatist agitations threatening the unity of the country on the perceived lopsidedness of the existing political structure. It, therefore, urged the relevant stakeholders to come together to save Nigeria from the looming threat of disintegration:

 “There seems to be a national consensus that the current system cannot endure. The APC, PDP, APGA and other political parties, as well as all non-partisan actors and statesmen must come together to save Nigeria. We are in a state of emergency at all levels. We demand the urgent release of Nnamdi Kanu, his colleagues and all prisoners of conscience, as part of the process of the search for national cohesion and building a new Nigeria. Since 2005, Nigeria has drifted from a rank of 54th position in the global Failed/Fragile State Index to 17th position in 2014 and now to a dangerous 13th position in 2016 (under the ‘Red Alert’ category of countries),” he lamented.

 Soludo and his group are not alone in the renewed pressure to secure the release of the detained IPOB leader. In a similar bid to secure Kanu’s release, other Igbo leaders under the umbrella of Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) had also visited him at Kuje prison. These included, among others, the ADF President; Professor Uzodinma Nwala, chairman federal character committee, Mr. Max Ozoaka, Assistant Legal Adviser; Mr. Max Alaeto, Acting Administrative Secretary; Mr. Uzo Anyaso and member, Mr. Dickson Isaac Chidera. In its own approach, the ADF had said it would explore political solution to the matter. In a statement issued on Sunday, February 5, ADF Publicity Secretary, Colonel Justino Ezeoke (rtd), described the treatment of Kanu and the reaction to the current agitation for Biafra as discriminatory when compared to the attitude of the government to Boko Haram insurgency. Ezeoke said while the government had sought and negotiated with the Boko Haram insurgents who had killed thousands of civilians and security forces and destroyed millions of property, it refused to do same to IPOB which employs peaceful and non-violent methods of agitation.

 He accused the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari of unwillingness to negotiate or even to dialogue with IPOB. Part of the statement reads: “The unrelenting spread of national and global sympathy for his release is premised on the fact that his campaign for the Biafra cause is both non-violent and does not violate any known national or in-ternational laws, but rather is pro-tected by the fundamental con-stitutional rights of freedom of speech and political agitation, guaranteed even by the Nigerian Constitution.”

 “Given the national and global reactions against Nnamdi Kanu’s unlawful detention, one would expect the democratically elected government of President Buhari to have released him a long time ago, and at the same time investigate the root cause of his claims in the name of Biafra and the people of Biafra.” “It is the failure to release an unarmed non-violent political agitator that has led to several cases of shooting and killing of innocent civilians, particularly the youths, and wounding of many more in several parts of the South East and South-South zones of Ni-geria.” The ADF said it was convinced that Kanu was driven by genuine love for justice, equity and freedom. “He represents a generation of Nigerian youths from different zones, who feel the Nigerian federation lacks the basic ingredients of democracy and rule of law, and the basic norms of a normal human society. The demand for renegotiating the foun-dations for the existence of the Nigerian federation has been a perennial agitation by all the dif-ferent ethnic nationalities as well as all those who wish for a peace-ful co-existence among the vari-ous ethnic nationalities in the Ni-gerian Federation,” the statement noted. President Muhammadu Buhari had vowed to keep Kanu in detention due to what he perceived as enormity of his offence. Speaking during his first presidential media chat at the presidential Villa in Abuja, Buhari said:

“If you see the atrocities these people committed against this country, we can’t allow them to jump bail.” He also accused Kanu of claiming dual citizenship, saying ‘despite having two international passports, one for Britain and the other for Nigeria, Mr. Kanu “did not use any of them to come into the country”. The sudden rise in public sympathy for the IPOB may not be unconnected with the incessant killings of its members by the security operatives. At a recent pro-Trump rally held in Port Harcourt, no fewer than 20 members of the group were said to have been allegedly mowed down when the protest turned violent. During the rally, members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) crowded the streets of the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt. They waved flags and chanted support for newly sworn-in U.S. President Donald Trump. The movement sees Trump as an ally who could help aid its move for independence from Nigeria. The State Deputy Police Chief, Ahmed Magaji, said the group did not get permission to protest.

Magaji said the group’s activities disrupted traffic and forced some businesses in the area to close down. Security officials responded by firing teargas at the group but denied causing any casualties. “About 65 of them were arrested at different points within the metropolis,” Magaji said. In a counter statement, IPOB claimed it formally notified the police of its plans to hold a rally in support of Trump. The group said security officials called on the special anti-robbery squad as well as the Nigerian army to intervene, despite the peaceful protest.

“Twenty people were shot dead on the spot,” the statement said. IPOB accuses the Federal Government of attempting to kill its leader. For now, the way out of the current logjam is for the new pressure group to explore the option of political solution. But the question is: who bells the cat?