The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has raised concerns about the declining health of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, urging the Federal Government to release him to prevent any potential danger.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful accused the government of deliberately provoking the group by not adhering to court orders for Kanu’s unconditional release.
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“The global family of IPOB once again calls for the unconditional release of our leader from DSS solitary confinement over his deteriorating health condition,” the statement read. “The Federal Government is intentionally provoking IPOB by refusing to release our leader even when the Nigerian and international courts have ordered his unconditional release.”
Powerful emphasized the risk to Kanu’s life in DSS custody, noting that despite calls from prominent Nigerians, including religious and traditional leaders and National Assembly members, the government remains unyielding. “It is worrisome that even though prominent Nigerians have called for his release, the Federal Government has refused to listen to the voice of reason, similar to the previous government under Buhari,” he said.
The statement highlighted a perceived double standard in the Federal Government’s actions, citing the discontinuation of terrorism and treason charges against two Yoruba activists and a Fulani militia leader under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. “In the case of an Igbo man, unarmed freedom activist Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, this same government has vehemently refused to release him,” Powerful noted. “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu had subsisting local and international judgments that ordered his release, unlike the other cases discontinued by the federal government without any court judgment.”
IPOB maintained its commitment to a non-violent approach in its struggle for Biafra, despite what it describes as high-handedness from the Nigerian government. “Kanu is seriously sick and must be released unconditionally from DSS solitary confinement for him to treat himself before something unpredictable and unimaginable happens to him,” the statement read.
The group urged President Tinubu to free Kanu to allow him to receive medical treatment. “Kanu has been detained in solitary confinement for over three years. Although no court in Nigeria has found him guilty, he is being persecuted by the tribal bigot government of Nigeria. President Bola Tinubu, please note that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is sick and something terrible can happen to him if he is not released. Nothing must happen to him in the DSS solitary confinement in Abuja,” the statement added.
Nnamdi Kanu has been held by the Department of State Services since his extradition from Kenya to Nigeria in 2021. The group called attention to Kanu’s prolonged detention without conviction and reiterated their plea for his immediate and unconditional release.
