Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has boasted that he has the capacity to end insecurity in the South-east and South-south Nigeria within two minutes if he is released from detention.
Mr Kanu has been in detention at the facility of the State Security Service (SSS) since he was rearrested and brought back to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021 under controversial circumstances.
The IPOB leader is facing terrorism charges at a Federal High Court, Abuja.
IPOB is a group leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.
The separatist group has been linked to some deadly attacks and killings in the two regions, an allegation it has repeatedly denied.
‘Ending insecurity in two minutes’
Mr Kanu, on Tuesday, said the insecurity in the two regions had been going on because of his incarceration at the SSS facility.
“Anybody involved in any form of violence or insecurity in the South-east in the name of IPOB is a loner and they know it. Let me come to this place. Two minutes only! Only two minutes, I guarantee you and there will be peace in the east, not just in the South-east, everywhere in the east, if not the entire South,” he said.
The IPOB leader spoke to reporters on Tuesday when he appeared at the Federal High Abuja in continuation of his trial.
A video clip which showed the separatist leader making the comments has been trending on various social media platforms.
Continuing, Mr Kanu said he has suspicion that some officials of the Nigerian government were behind the insecurity in the two regions because they were allegedly making money from the situation in the areas.
“They (the government officials) know that if Nnamdi Kanu is out, in two minutes, this nonsense will stop,” he said of insecurity, adding that nobody can challenge his order in the regions.
‘They’re criminals’
Mr Kanu also said those carrying out attacks in the two regions in the name of IPOB were criminals.
“Anybody abducting people, killing people for the sake of achieving Biafra, that person is a criminal. Anybody who engages in robbery, sabotage, kidnapping or committing all these things in the name IPOB is a criminal,” he said in Igbo language.
“We are here to fight for our freedom for justice, equity and fairness. That’s what we are fighting for. Nothing more; nothing less. Anybody involved in any kind of crime in the east cannot go free,” the IPOB leader added.
Background
Mr Kanu, the IPOB leader, was first arrested in 2015 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on 13 October 2022, held that the IPOB leader was extra-ordinarily renditioned to Nigeria and that the action was a flagrant violation of the country’s extradition treaty and also a breach of his fundamental human rights.
The court, therefore, struck out the terrorism charges filed against Mr Kanu by the Nigerian government and ordered his release by the SSS.
But the government refused to release the IPOB leader insisting that he (Kanu) could be unavailable in subsequent court proceedings if released and that his release would cause insecurity in the South-east, where he comes from.
The government, through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, later appealed the court ruling and subsequently obtained an order staying the execution of the court judgment at the Supreme Court.
Delivering judgment on the appeal on 15 December, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal granted to Mr Kanu by the lower court and consequently ordered continuation of his trial at the Federal High Court Abuja.
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