IPOB criticises Nigerian governor over comments on Nnamdi Kanu

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has criticised Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State for suggesting that the release of Nnamdi Kanu might not address insecurity in the South-east.

Mr Kanu, who is facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, has been in detention since he was brought back to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021 under controversial circumstances.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the south-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria.

What Soludo said

Many Igbo leaders have repeatedly called for the release of the IPOB leader on the basis that his freedom would end the worsening insecurity in the South-east.

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But speaking in mid-December, Mr Soludo said the release of the IPOB leader might not end insecurity in the region.

The governor explained that the hoodlums behind frequent attacks in the South-east were criminals who had hijacked the Biafra struggle and are now hiding under the agitation and Mr Kanu’s name to perpetrate violence.

IPOB kicks

But reacting in a statement on Monday, the spokesperson of the IPOB, Emma Powerful, said the governor appears to be “pitching his tent firmly” with unnamed politicians allegedly against the release of the IPOB leader.

Mr Powerful argued that Mr Soludo’s comment was “counter intuitive” and defies logic given that he had previously called for the release of Mr Kanu.

He said Mr Kanu’s release would end insecurity in the South-east, even considering the governor’s admission that those behind insecurity in the region operate under Mr Kanu’s name.

“If criminals are hiding under the name of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB to commit any offence, then common sense dictates that if Onyendu is released, nobody would hide under his name or that of IPOB to commit any crime or do anything untoward,” he said.

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“Any criminal or criminals hiding under his name will be flushed out or be exposed and those operating in their own name will be driven out of our land.”

‘Kanu will end insecurity in South-east’

Mr Powerful said Mr Kanu would end insecurity in the South-east if released from detention considering how he floated the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to check herders’ attacks in the region.

Established by Mr Kanu in 2020, ESN is the armed wing of IPOB dedicated to fighting herders in south-east and south-south Nigeria.

“If the same person, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu that brought to an end the full-scale invasion, slaughter and humiliation of the Igbo race at the hands of these killer herdsmen from the Sahel that were rampaging unchecked through our forests, farmlands and villages a few years back, the same Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will surely end insecurity in the South-east and beyond,” the IPOB spokesperson claimed.

He further recalled how the IPOB leader boasted that he could end insecurity in the South-east upon his release from detention.

“This is how bold and confident we are in demonstration of our utter repudiation of anything that may bring or cause hardship to be brought upon the people of Biafra,” Mr Powerful said of the IPOB leader’s boast.

He challenged South-east governors to publicly say if there is any “ulterior motive” behind their alleged reluctance to “frontally” seek Mr Kanu’s release in line with their public pledge.

However, governors and other political leaders in the region have repeatedly called for Mr Kanu’s release.