BIAFRA NEWS : Ejimakor calls for unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu

 

Special Counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, Aloy Ejimakor, has called for the unconditional release of the secessionist leader from detention.

According to him, Nigeria must first explain to domestic courts and the international community how Kanu ended up in their in chains.
He said, “This is but a basic condition precedent without which prosecution of Nnamdi Kanu cannot ensue.”

In a statement he signed and made available to  on Monday, the lawyer said that up till now, neither the Attorney-General, nor any other Nigerian official has explained how and where Nnamdi Kanu was ‘intercepted.’

He also pointed out that the Federal Government has not been able to counter Kanu’s accounts and details of how the so-called interception was made, which include claims that he was kidnapped, disappeared, tortured in Kenya, and renditioned to Nigeria.

“During the hearing of Kanu’s fundamental rights suit in Abia State (which he won), the Nigerian government could not explain how Kanu ended up in Nigeria, thus confirming that Kanu was not extradited but illegally renditioned,” the statement added.

He noted that the Kenyan Government has also vehemently denied that Kanu was subjected to any extradition.

“In view of the foregoing, there are several questions and answers well-meaning Nigerians and the international community must demand from Nigeria,” he added.

“The Nigerian Constitution provides in its fundamental rights at Section 35(1) that ‘No person shall be deprived of his liberty save in accordance with a procedure permitted by law’. ”

“…it is trite that a renditioned fugitive suspect cannot be subjected to trial.

“Kanu should be restitutioned or restored to the status quo, whether to Kenya or Britain, at his option.

“The next best thing for Nigerian authorities to do is to toe the path of honour and contrition by releasing Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally.

“In the interim, it may choose the easier option of forbearing any objections to reinstatement of Nnamdi Kanu’s bail, which will instantly clear the judicial path to his release.”

BIAFRA NEWS : Nnamdi Kanu took advantage of Igbos’ naivety, anger – Okorocha

 

Senator Rochas Okorocha has described Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, as a smart man who took advantage of the Igbo’s unhappiness and naivety.

Okorocha made the remark during a chat with Arise TV while commenting on IPOB’s secessionist agitation in the Southeast.

Okorocha insisted that most Southeast youths are not secessionists but angry Nigerians railing against the system, making them easy targets for IPOB’s agenda.

“The issue of IPOB is very controversial and they are the agitations of some young men seeking for relevance who even disrespected me during my tenure as a governor; I don’t see them as secessionists.

“They had been told that the rest of the country hates them. Nnamdi Kanu is a smart man who got these people to think as he wanted,” he said.

BIAFRA NEWS : IPOB urges S-East residents in Abuja to show support for Kanu by appearing in court

 

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday, urged South East residents in Abuja to come out on February 2nd, 2022 in solidarity with its leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as he appears in court.

IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, entitled, “Biafrans in Abuja and its environs should solidarize with our patriots due for a court appearance on February 2, 2022.”, said they cannot be abandoned because the allegation leveled against them does not infringe on the law of Nigeria.

 IPOB statement read: “We are the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, under the command of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. We want to inform all Biafrans that the following gentlemen of our movement: Mazi Chidebere Onwudiwe, Mazi David Nwawuishi, Mazi Bright Ishinwa Chimezie, and Mazi Benjamin 

Madubugwu will be in court over the frivolous and empty charges preferred against them by the federal government of Nigeria on the 2nd of February 2022. The  Nigerian government and its cabal see Nigeria as their conquered estate handed over to them by the colonial masters.

 “We cannot abandon these patriots at any point. So, we urge Biafrans around Abuja and the Northern States to solidarise with them on that day. IPOB members across Northern Region must solidarise with them on that day, 2nd of February 2022.

“The bogus charges preferred against them have no merit and do not hold water. Self-determination activities in the world are not criminal activities.

“The federal government cannot win IPOB in the court of competent jurisdiction because freedom is an inevitable right of every human being. IPOB is only following the laws of the land both international and local.

“We know the desperation of the Nigeria Government to influence the international community to stop Biafra restoration but they will not succeed at all.”

BIAFRA NEWS : Asari Dokubo warned to stop attacks on Nnamdi Kanu immediately

 

Human Rights Writers Association, HURIWA, has told a former Niger Delta militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, to be sensitive and stop his alleged garrulous attacks on the rule of law which is geared towards undermining leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

HURIWA said it strongly condemns the insensitive, callous and irrationally calculated attempt by the ex-militant leader to intentionally influence the outcome of the trial of Nnamdi Kanu.

“We condemn the systematic campaign of calumny by Mr. Dokubo targeting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” HURIWA said in a statement signed by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, its national coordinator.

“We think that his constant media outbursts seeking to undermine the defense that maybe put up by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in the Court is totally unconstitutional, primitive, tendentious, provocative and animalistic.”

The group said that Asari Dokubo must be called to order, adding that Nigeria has become virtually a banana republic under this current administration.

“It is sad that this same government that have committed an atrocity of abducting a citizen from Kenya which is Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is the same government that is engaging in media trial, meaning that the government does not believe in constitutional democracy,” HURIWA added.

“This is the reason why the likes of Mr. Asari Dokubo and his ilks are constantly in the media trying to undermine the rule of law by seeking to influence proceedings in the court including calling for an indefinite detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”

HURIWA said Asari Dokubo is only taking advantage of the alleged lawlessness in Nigeria, pointing out that had it been the United Kingdom or some other countries, Dokubo would have been arrested because one does not try to influence the proceedings of the court of law.

The group insisted that IPOB is no longer to blame for the continued sit-at-home in some parts of the South East, adding that Asari’s allegation that the group is the one behind the weekly economic shutdown in the region is nonsensical because the secessionist group has since cancelled it.

BIAFRA NEWS : Anambra mourns ex-Lagos SSG Adeniran-Ogunsanya, ex-Biafran warlord Gbulie

 

The Anambra State Government on Monday mourned a former Secretary to Lagos State Government, Adenrele Adeniran-Ogunsanya and a former Biafran warlord, Captain Ben Gbulie (retd.).

This was contained in a statement by the Anambra state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba, titled, ‘Anambra condoles with Gbulie and Adeniran Ogunsanya families’.

Adeniran-Ogunsanya died last Tuesday at the age of 74 after a brief illness.

The commissioner condoled with the Ogunsanya family, noting that the deceased’s father, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, was for decades the closest political associate and personal friend of Nigeria’s first President, Nnamdi Azikiwe, a “worthy son” of Anambra State.

In a letter to the Ogunsanya family, Adinuba commended the late Princess Aderenle Adeniran-Ogunsanya for being “principle-centred like her legendary father, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who was at different times Commissioner for Education in Lagos State, a Minister of the Federal Republic in the First Republic of 1960 to 1966 and the NPP National Chairman in the Second Republic of 1979 to 1983.”

“History will always be kind to nationalists like Dr Azikiwe, Chief Ogunsanya and Princess Aderenle Adeniran –Ogunsanya,” Adinuba said.

Gbulie, a soldier and author who rose into national prominence for his role in the January 1966 coup which ended Nigeria’s First Republic, died last Sunday, January 23, 2022, at the age of 82. 

Mourning Gbulie, the commissioner said, “Ben Gbulie and his group obviously meant well for Nigeria when they plotted and executed the coup but they were out of touch with the Nigerian reality which, in a way, is understandable because they were young men in their 20s driven by sheer patriotic exuberance.”

Hailing Gbulie on his book, Adinuba observed, “It is a mark of his brilliance that his books like Nigeria’s Five Majors, which was published in the early 1980s, remain among the most quoted and cited works on the country’s recent history.”

BIAFRA NEWS : Buhari Government Offering Nnamdi Kanu Money, Property To Abandon Biafran Agitation – IPOB

 

According to the group, some persons have promised to help President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to make Kanu bow to pressure, hence trying to cause division among IPOB members. 

 The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said the Nigerian government is keeping its leader, Nnamdi Kanu in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) because he declined monetary and land offers to make him forsake Biafra agitation. 
According to the group, some persons have promised to help President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to make Kanu bow to pressure, hence trying to cause division among IPOB members. 

IPOB said these through a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, on Monday. 
It read, "The attention of the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been drawn to the secret plans by the Buhari government to illegally detain our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for as long as possible. 
"Their annoyance with our leader is his blunt refusal to take properties and monetary inducement offered him to abandon the struggle for Biafra liberation. 
"The Federal Government decided to hold our leader indefinitely to see if it can possibly infiltrate the ranks of our great movement and destroy it from inside while our leader is in custody. 
"The federal government is also relying on the promise by some traitors and black sheep in America and Europe that they would assist it realise the evil plot. The promise was made to the federal government during their secret visit to Aso Rock last December."
It also disclosed that the Nigerian government was plotting to pitch the international community against the group. 
"We are also aware that the Federal government has been lobbying the international community to enlist their support against Biafra liberation but they won't succeed. Therefore, anybody distracting or causing division in the IPOB family is a tool knowingly or unknowingly working for the Federal Government of Nigeria. 
"The fact remains that Biafra is a divine project. It has gone beyond any single individual including our leader. Millions of the oppressed Biafrans youths home and abroad are now more aware and conscious than ever. It's only a matter of time. Biafra MUST come. It can only be delayed but certainly not suppressed.
"Our leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU must be released unconditionally. So, the Federal Government won't achieve their aim because our leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU and IPOB members committed no crime known to law both locally and internationally.
"Again, we want to raise the alarm that the Department of State Services, DSS has concluded plans to hold and keep torturing three innocent Igbo women in solitary confinement without allowing them out of their tiny cell at all.  These innocent women were being held under such condition because they have refused to lie against our leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU, so the DSS intend to break their spirits. 
"The DSS is going to courts and obtaining black market orders to detain Biafrans indefinitely. And one of the judges issuing such orders is Justice Maha of Federal High Court Abuja. The world should be aware of this. They must be made to account for their crimes," the statement added.

BIAFRA NEWS : Digging into IPOB and What It Represents

 

Since the Nigerian Civil War in 1967 fought between the Nigerian government and the separatist Biafra state, there has been a distinct movement designed to enshrine the liberation of the South Eastern states which fall under the Biafra region. This fight in a contemporary setting has largely been shaped by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)- an organization centered around fulfilling the vision of Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu- the Biafran leader during the Civil War. Consequently, this has led to conflict with the Nigerian government who balk at its separatist philosophy. We offer an insight into the organization and what makes it tick.

What Is The Origin Story Of IPOB?

The birth of the IPOB movement can be traced to a secessionist movement that started in the 1960s. Led by Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, the movement posited itself as representing the interests of the South East region who felt marginalized by the central government dominated by leaders from the Northern part of the region. As a result of this, they sought to break free from the shackles of the Nigerian government and form the Republic of Biafra. The failure of the leaders to deescalate this conflict resulted in a Civil War which lasted from 1967 and 1970. Despite “losing” the war, the overarching theme of separatism remained, bubbling underground. In a sense, the lasting relevance of this idea is proof of the failures of the state to reintegrate the South East region successfully.

New Leadership, Same Cause

Since Ojukwu’s rise and fall, there have been many other pro-Biafra groups including the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM). IPOB is the latest. Led by Nnamdi Kanu, the plan remains the same — break free of Nigeria and restore an independent Biafran State in the South Eastern Region of Nigeria. Kanu was relatively unknown until 2009 when he started Radio Biafra. Broadcasting from London to Nigeria, he criticized the government and called for the freedom of Biafrans. In 2015, he got arrested by Nigerian security forces on charges of “sedition, ethnic incitement, and treasonable felony.” With Kanu in charge and Radio Biafra, the movement has gained a lot of ground over the years. The  IPOB group has gained influence while Nnamdi Kanu is known as the ‘Supreme leader’ amongst his people.

The Current Situation With IPOB

With Kanu imprisoned, this has served as a rallying point. His supporters have responded by protesting and marching against his arrest. These protests have often resulted in the loss of lives. Between 2015 and 2016, about 150 pro-Biafra protesters were reportedly killed by the Nigerian security forces in an attempt to restrict their protests, according to an investigation by Amnesty International.

“This deadly repression of pro-Biafra activists is further stoking tensions in the southeast of Nigeria. This reckless and trigger-happy approach to crowd control has caused at least 150 deaths and we fear the actual total might be far higher,” said Makmid Kamara, Interim Director of Amnesty International Nigeria. “The Nigerian government’s decision to send in the military to respond to pro-Biafra events seems to be in large part to blame for this excessive bloodshed. The authorities must immediately launch an impartial investigation and bring the perpetrators to book.”

Since these killings, IPOB has been labeled a terrorist organization by the Federal High Court in Abuja after a reported clash between military personnel and IPOB members in Umuahia, the Abia state capital in 2017. The Biafran group appealed against this but the ruling was upheld. The United States government has weighed in saying that it does not see IPOB as a terrorist organization.

IPOB members continue to clash with the authorities as security agents continuously raid the homes of members. This inspired a sit-at-home order that was first introduced to highlight the level of public support in their quest for an independent nation of Biafra. Originating as a once-a-year event to pay homage to those who died in the Civil War, it has now evolved into a tool to draw attention to Kanu’s detention as IPOB often urges residents of the South-East to stay indoors whenever he is arraigned in court. However, the continuous sit-at-home orders have often resulted in violence and the ongoing unrest in Enugu State which IPOB has denied having anything to do with.

Kanu, the leader of the IPOB group has pleaded not guilty to charges of Terrorism and Treason. On the 19th of January, a high court in Umuahia ordered the Nigerian Government to pay Kanu the sum of N1billion for the infringement on his fundamental human rights and the invasion of his father’s home in Afara Ukwu in September 2017 by the military. Presently, Kanu is under detention at the detention facility of the Department of State Services (DSS)

What next? 

IPOB’s request for a referendum on the separation of Biafra from Nigeria finally reached a front burner on January 20, 2022, when the Yoruba and Efik ethnicities filed a petition to join in the suit documented by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG). The demand from Biafran agitators and the two other ethnicities for a referendum is still being considered and will be reviewed in court come March 14, 2022.