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Tag: IPOB

  • IPOB: U.K updates Nigeria on issuance of travel document to Kanu

    British authorities have briefed the Nigerian government about the temporary travel document they are about to issue to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who holds a Nigeria-U.K dual citizenship.

    A senior Federal Government official with the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed this development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, on Tuesday.

    He explained that the British authorities had further reassured that they had the best intention towards Nigeria and its citizens.

    The IPOB leader, who was sighted in Israel last week, had pledged to return to Nigeria soon, after his unceremonious disappearance from the country for about 13 months.

    Kanu, who made his first public statement on a live broadcast on Radio Biafra on Sunday, was quoted as saying: “I have returned full-time and I am coming home and I will bring hell with me.’’

    However, the Presidency had on Oct. 23 dismissed the Kanu’s outburst and assured all Nigerians that there was no reason to worry about the hollow outburst by the IPOB leader.

    Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, who gave the assurance in a statement in Abuja, restated that Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari was strong enough to defend its territory against any threat.

    He said: “Instead, we see the re-enactment of his bizarre, episodic threat as a mere distraction which will not be allowed to detract from the existing cordial relationships between Nigeria and other countries.’’

    According to him, the Buhari administration is in constant touch with other friendly nations and has the best assurances that they would continue to reciprocate the respect Nigeria has for the sovereignty of their nations.

    “Nigerians have nothing to fear from this,’’ he added.(NAN)

  • Abaribe under fresh pressure as IPOB leader Kanu resurfaces

    The senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe came under fresh pressure yesterday to produce the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, following the public appearance of the latter in Jerusalem, Israel.

    Kanu, who was widely rumoured to have been killed during the September 2017 invasion of his Afaraukwu Umuahia residence by soldiers, was pictured praying at the Wailing Wall.

    Photographs and video of the Jerusalem appearance of Kanu who professes to be Jew, were shared on the internet by his supporters.

    Deputy leader of IPOB, Alphonsus Uche Okafor Mefor, said: “fellow Biafrans, friends of Biafra, men and women of goodwill and of good conscience, warm greetings to all.

    “We wish to reliably inform you that the Supreme leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, would within an hour be praying in Jerusalem live on Facebook. All are enjoined to hook on. Chukwu Okike is in charge.”

    Spokesman for IPOB, Emma Powerful, who had persistently accused the federal government and the military of killing Kanu and his father, Isaac Okwuonu Kanu, during the September 2017 incident, confirmed the authenticity of the pictures yesterday.

    Speaking on the phone, he said: “I can boldly confirm to you that the person in the video is my brother, Kanu. He was praying in the video that we saw.

    “We are happy that he is still alive and we will try to establish communication with him.

    “Everybody in my family and the entire community is celebrating and thanking God since we received the news.”

    He said that the Deputy Director of the organisation, Uche Ejiofor, also confirmed the online video report when the family spoke with him on the cell phone.

    But amid the euphoria of Kanu’s reappearance yesterday, a federal prosecutor, Shuiabu Labaran, who is prosecuting Kanu, said the IPOB leader’s surety, Abaribe, is expected to produce him in court when the case comes up again on November 14.

    Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja had adjourned until November 14 for Abaribe to show reason why he should not forfeit the bail bond or be jailed for failing to produce Kanu.

    Abaribe, through his counsel, is praying the court to discharge him as a surety.

    The charge was amended following Kanu’s disappearance to enable the trial of his co-accused continue in his absence.

    But with Kanu reportedly sighted in Israel, Labaran told our correspondent last night that it was the surety’s responsibility to produce him.

    The prosecutor said since Kanu did not escape from custody but was granted bail, it was left for the court to decide what to do should the surety fail to produce him.

    He said the prosecution would have been responsible for his appearance had he not been granted bail.

    Kanu’s lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor could not be reached for comments yesterday as he did not pick the calls made to his phone.

    Several calls and text message sent to Abaribe’s phone last night also went unresponded to.

    Kanu, along with others, was charged before Justice Nyako on charges bordering on treasonable felony.

    He went missing after soldiers in an Operation Python Dance to quell pro-Biafra protests in the Southeast invaded his home in Abia State last September.

    Emma Powerful, in a statement shortly after the September 2017 incident claimed that “soldiers and police in Nigerian uniforms came to kill our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in his compound at Afaraukwu Umuahia and started shooting sporadically and killed five people and up to 30 people with bullets wounds. After attacking our people, they went off. They came in five Hilux vans.”

    The police and the army denied killing either Kanu or his father.

    The military authorities said at the time that soldiers were merely deployed to the South East for ‘Operation Python Dance II’ for the purpose of keeping the peace in that part of the country.

    Only recently, former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, said he knew where Kanu was.

    Earlier in the year, online newspaper The Cable, reported that Kanu was spotted in Ghana alongside his wife, Uchechi.

    He reportedly lived on an estate called “Arabella” in Accra, Ghanaian capital, and was regularly seen at Kenzo Bar and IBG saloon in Accra, disguising in a fez cap.

    Kanu disappeared from Nigeria while on bail in respect of a treason charge against him.

    His surety, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, was arrested in June over his inability to produce him in court for continuation of his trial.

    The apex Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, also joined the fray in blaming the federal authorities for Kanu’s disappearance.

    “The onus lies on the security forces to disclose his (Kanu’s) whereabouts,” the group said in a June 2018 statement while reacting to the arrest of Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, one of Kanu’s sureties.

    Ohanaeze Ndigbo accused the judiciary of towing “the line of the executive by throwing the law overboard in matters that affect the South-East.”

    President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, John Nnia Nwodo, who signed the statement, said the circumstances at the time of the disappearance of Kanu were beyond the “contemplation of the law that a surety can guarantee the production of an accused person.”

    “The army in the name of ‘Operation Python Dance’ invaded Nnamdi’s home and destabilised normalcy there.

    “It is only the security agency that can disclose Nnamdi’s whereabouts. Senator Abaribe has no capacity nor has any surety in the circumstances to know the whereabouts of Nnamdi Kanu. What happened in Umahia was an invasion, a war of a kind.

    “Nnamdi may have been killed or captured in the imbroglio or even escaped into hiding.

    “The onus lies on the security forces to disclose his whereabouts. The judiciary is beginning to toe the line of the executive by throwing the law overboard in matters that affect the South-East.

    “We are all equal before the law. Senator Abaribe must be released forthwith.”

    In August, 114 women embarked on a protest in Owerri, Imo State, over alleged abduction and detention of Kanu by the federal government. The protesters demanded his “immediate release.”

    The police arrested them and charged them to court for alleged illegal assembly and unlawful protest.

    They were however released on bail by a magistrate court in Owerri.

    IPOB leader’s reappearance divides MASSOB, Ohanaeze youths

    Prominent Igbo groups, the Ohanaeze Youth Council and Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday expressed divergent views over what should be the next line of action for Nnamdi Kanu who was sighted yesterday in Jerusalem.

    While the OYC sought amnesty for Kanu, MASSOB ruled out going into dialogue with the government, insisting on using non-violence to make Biafra a reality.

    President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okechukwu, expressed joy that the IPOB leader is alive.

    He advised Kalu to reconcile with South East governors and Igbo leaders in general.

    He said: “We are glad to hear that Mazi Nnamdi Kalu is alive. It is cheering news and I would want to use this opportunity to ask the Federal Government to dialogue with him on the issue of restructuring and other demands the group is making.

    “The Federal Government should also consider giving him amnesty and also release his followers who are in detention.

    “We also want to use this opportunity to appeal to his followers to be calm. This should not be an opportunity to take to the street.

    “I will also advise Kanu to make amends where necessary.”

    On his part, the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Uche Madu, expressed happiness that Kanu was not dead as speculated in some quarters.

    Madu said: “We have been vindicated. The statement that Kanu was murdered was not a propaganda because the military invaded his house and did the unimaginable and suddenly Kanu disappeared. We have been celebrating since we heard that he is in Israel.

    “We would not beg the Federal Government for dialogue. Even if we are going to dialogue with the Federal Government, we would still insist on getting Biafra because we have suffered so much for it.

    “We are not interested in the position of president or vice president in Nigeria. We want Biafra and nothing more.

    Group seeks presidential pardon for Kanu, IPOB

    The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide urged pardon for Kanu and IPOB.

    Deputy President General of the group, Comrade Obinna Achionye, in a statement in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, asked the federal government to grant Kanu pardon to enable him return home.

    The group said that if government could release and pardon some Boko Haram members, it should not find it difficult to extend a similar gesture to Kanu.

    The group also urged IPOB followers to resist taking to the streets in jubilation to avoid causing tension.

  • IPOB: Kanu alive, spotted in Israel, says younger brother

    Emmanuel Kanu, the younger brother to the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB ), Nnamdi Kanu, said on Friday that his brother was alive.

    Emmanuel said that Kanu was spotted at a worship place in Israel.

    He made the disclosure in a telephone conversation with newsmen in Umuahia, saying that he received the information through an online video broadcast on Friday.

    “I can boldly confirm to you that the person in the video is my brother, Kanu. He was praying in the video that we saw.

    “We are happy that he is still alive and we will try to establish communication with him,” Emmanuel said.

    He said that the news was received with wild jubilation in their family and Isiama Afaraukwu community in general.

    “Everybody in my family and the entire community is celebrating and thanking God since we received the news,” he said.

    He said that the Deputy Director of the organisation, Uche Ejiofor, also confirmed the online video report, when the family spoke with him on cellphone.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the community declared Kanu and his parents missing in the aftermath of the Sept. 14, 2017 alleged invasion of their country home by members of the “Operation Pyton Dance II.”

    Read Also: Group seeks presidential pardon for Kanu, IPOB

    The operation was deployed to dislodge the group in Umuahia, its operational headquarters.

    The Federal Government described IPOB as a terrorist organisation and proscribed its activities in the country.

    At a joint news briefing in Umuahia on Wednesday, leaders of the three component villages of Afaraukwu said that the whereabouts of Kanu’s father, Eze Israel Kanu, was still unknown.

    They claimed that Kanu’s father, who was the traditional ruler of Isiama Afaraukwu in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia, got missing after the alleged attack on his palace.

  • Group seeks presidential pardon for Kanu, IPOB

    Following reports on Friday claiming that Nnamddi Kanu was sighted in far away Israel, the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide led by Mr Okechukwu Isiguzoron has expressed happiness over news of the sighting.

    A statement by the Deputy President General of the group, Comrade Obinna Achionye also urged the Federal Government to grant  Kanu pardon to enable him return home.

    “We Urge President Buhari to grant him Presidential pardon and squash all legal proceedings against in the spirit of National reconciliation and forgiveness”, said the group.

    Ohaneze youths noted that if the Federal government can release boko haram detainees in Kano and planning to give Amnesty to Boko Haram, the same gesture should be extended to IPOB and Mr Kanu.

    “They should reverse the tag of IPOB as a terrorist organization and allow peace to reign”

    The group also urged IPOB followers not to go to the street now in the spirit of jubilation in other not to create political tension in the South East and South/south.

    Read Also: Atiku’s campaign council: Umahi denies rejecting appointment

    “We Urge the South East Governors to close ranks and rebuild the palace of Nnamdi Kanu’s father, HRH Eze I. Kanu which was destroyed during the Python dance.

    “We also ask the leader , Nnamdi Kanu to change strategy and embrace the hands of genuine Igbo brothers and leaders. We still ask IPOB to have rethink on its decision of proscribing the parent body of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and disruption of Ohanaeze events and gathering”

    The group promised to lead any struggle to ensure self determination is not tagged terrorism, and ensure there is peaceful co-existence between all stakeholders in Southeast.

  • IPOB sit-at-home: Four in court over alleged arson

    FOUR persons have been arraigned before a Chief Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital for allegedly setting ablaze a Mercedes Benz valued at N6 million. The vehicle marked AH 483 ABM, said to belong to one Chilaka Michael, was among the nine other commercial trucks burnt by the accused persons in the attack. The suspects are Anieti Jacob 34, Okpara Okechukwu 25, Gentle George 21 and Maduabuchi Nwokafor.

    They were charged with three-count charge bordering on arson and treasonable felony punishable by death or imprisonment, if convicted. The accused persons allegedly committed the crime at Oyigbo express road junction of the state, during the sit-at-home protest declared by the outlawed members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on September 14, 2018.

    The prosecutor, Inspector Wilson Isaiah told the court that their offence contravenes sections 516 A (1), 41 (c) and 443 (a) of the Criminal Code, Cap C38 laws of federation of Nigeria, 2004. The charge was not however read out to them, and neither were they allowed to take plea. Apart from one of the accused person that had legal representation, others were not represented by any lawyer. The presiding Magistrate, Sokari Andrew Jaja ordered that they be remanded in prison custody as he adjourned the case till December 20, 2018 for hearing.

  • IPOB sit-at-home: Four in court over alleged arson

    Four persons have been arraigned before a chief magistrate court in Port Harcourt the Rivers state capital for allegedly setting ablaze a Mercedes Benz vehicle valued at N6 million.

    The vehicle with Registration number, AH 483 ABM, property of one Chilaka Michael was among the nine other commercial trucks burnt by the accused persons in the attack.

    The suspects are Anieti Jacob 34, Okpara Okechukwu 25, Gentle George 21 and Maduabuchi Nwokafor.

    They are charged with three count charge bothering on arson and treasonable felony punishable by death or imprisonment, if convicted.

    The accused persons allegedly committed the crime at Oyigbo express road junction of the state, during the sit-at-home protest declared by the outlawed members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), September 14, 2018.

    The prosecutor, Inspector Wilson Isaiah told the court that their offence contravenes sections 516 A (1), 41 (c) and 443 (a) of the criminal code, cap C38 laws of federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    The charge was not however read out to them, neither were they allowed to take plea.

    Apart from one of the accused person that had legal representation, others were not represented by any lawyer.

    The presiding Magistrate, Sokari Andrew Jaja ordered that they be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the case till December 20, 2018 for hearing.

  • IPOB Sit-at-home: Aba residents shun security directives

    Despite assurances of safety of lives and property of residents and visitors to the state by heads of various security agencies in Abia State, residents, traders, private and government workers in Aba, the commercial nerve of the State on Friday stayed away from their shops and offices as the Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB ) hold sit-at-home across the southeast states.

    A release by the spokesman of the secessionist group, Emma Powerful had urged the people to stay away from their offices and shops in honour of their late colleagues who were murdered in Afaraukwu, the country home of their leader and Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu by soldiers.

    Our correspondent who monitored compliance to the sit-at-home order by the IPOB, reports that while there was compliance to the order in Aba, it was business as usual in Umuahia, the state capital as the people were seen going about their businesses without any harassment by anybody.

    According to our reporter, while the gates of major markets in Aba including Ariaria International market, Cemetery, Shopping Plaza, Ahia Ohuru, Bakassi among others were open, traders however stayed away from their shops.

    While some commercial banks at the time of this report were running skeletal services, some of the staff interviewed disclosed that they were open for business because they didn’t get official memo from their headquarters directing them to stay away from work today. Offices, shops along Okigwe, Azikiwe, kent, Market, Aba-Owerri roads respectively were however devoid of their usual hustling and bubbling.

    Police patrol vans were spotted stationed at Sameck by Faulks, Market road by Shopping Center and other strategic places in the commercial city.

    Read Also: IPOB: Sit-at-home fails in Enugu

    In a chat with a senior police officer in Abia State Police Command who pleaded not to be mentioned said that they were stationed at various flash points in Aba and other parts of the state in order to forestall any breakdown of law and order by any group of person who would want to capitalized on the IPOB sit-at-home to foment troubles or stop citizens of the state from going to their normal duties.

    Some members of the pro-Biafra group members who spoke to our reporter thanked the people and residents of Aba for complying with the orders of the group.

    The respondents, including Ifeanyi Okafor described the day as a day of sober reflection and also used the opportunity to call on world bodies including the United Nations to investigate the killings in Afaraukwu in 2017 by soldiers.

    Okafor said that no amount of intimidation from the federal government and security agencies would deter them from continuing with the peaceful agitation for the sovereign State of Biafra.

  • IPOB: Sit-at-home fails in Enugu

    The sit at home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB ) was a total failure in Enugu.

    Business and social activities were in top gear. All offices and banks were open for business.

    Contingent of the Nigeria Police were seen stationed at various strategic points ready for any ugly incident that might crop up.

    IPOB had ordered for the sit at home to mark the one year anniversary of the “invasion” of its leader’s home at Afar Umuahia, Abia state.

    A generator repairer at the New Layout, Enugu who simply gave his name as Okwudili ‎said why “I will not obey the order is that I have my children to feed and IPOB will not place any food on my table. ”

    IPOB’s sister organisation, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike’s faction had earlier dissociated itself from the sit at home order and called on the people of South East and South South not to comply with the order.

    Chief Benjamin Ekwenugo, a member of the MASSOB-BIM elder council, spoke on behalf of Uwazurike during the commemoration of the 19th anniversary of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, by the Enugu West Zone of the group.

    ‎The MASSOB-BIM said such sit-at-home call was misplaced and not what Biafrans needed at the moment.

    “IPOB is on their own; what will they achieve with all these their sit-at-home order? We are coming out tomorrow; it is only today we have an activity in commemoration of Biafra struggle; there is nothing like people not coming out tomorrow.

    Read Also: Mixed feelings trail IPOB’s sit-at-home

    “I call on Ndigbo to ignore them and go about their businesses, unless someone that has nothing to do.

    “All these sit-at-home and the rest of them are of no use. Today, we are rejoicing because we are already have success in our Biafra struggle; we are only waiting for the official announcement.

    “We are today marking a journey of 19 years; it is not 19 days; already we are enjoying Biafra; I recall that when we started, it was almost criminal to mention the name Biafra, but it is no more like that. I was the Director for welfare, so, I know what I passed through then.

    “That is why those talking about restructuring are wasting their time. Let Ohanaeze and other proponents restructure themselves not Biafra. They can’t restructure Biafra for us, we are not Nigerians. Even if they do it tomorrow, it is an exercise in futility.”

  • Mixed feelings trail IPOB’s sit-at-home

    •Markets, banks boom in Aba

    Residents, visitors and shop owners in Aba and Umuahia, Abia State, have expressed mixed feelings over today’s sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

    Some major markets in Aba witnessed a boom as people tried to make last minute shopping. Some commercial banks also witnessed high patronage, with customers saying they couldn’t risk going without cash during the long weekend.

    But an official of one of the banks, who pleaded for anonymity, said they were yet to receive official memo from their headquarters in Lagos asking them not to work today.

    According to him, they would be open for business in the morning but run skeletal services, and if nothing happens thereafter, they would begin normal banking activities.

    Some respondents hoped that security agencies would be able to arrest any situation that could lead to unrest or breach of peace.

    Mrs. Grace Okeke, a shopper at Cemetery market in Aba, said she came to shop ahead of the sit-at-home order.

    She said: “Tomorrow (today) is Friday and we can’t predict what will happen, which could affect opening of market on Saturday. So, I am being pro-active so as not to be caught in the web of any eventuality.”

    A market official said the market will be opened for business tomorrow (today) despite IPOB’s order.

  • Sit-at-home: Ebonyi Police Commissioner, Ohaneze Youths warn IPOB

    Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi state, Musa Kimo has warned members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, not to use the sit-at-home exercise to harass and intimidate law-abiding citizens of the state.

    Kimo, who gave the warning on Wednesday during his maiden prese briefing in Abakaliki, said responsible law-abiding citizens should go about their lawful businesses, assuring their security.

    Read Also:Police warn IPOB against sit-at-home order

    “Information reaching us that the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, have concluded plans to harass, intimidate, and molest law-abiding citizens.

    “I want to assure all responsible and law-abiding citizens and other people who are here to do their legitimate business, that they have nothing to fear as measures are in place to guarantee everybody safety. I also want to appeal to you parents and guardians to warn their wards to desist,” he said.

    The Police Commissioner, who assumed office on Monday, debunked insinuations making the round that he was working for any political party, adding that he was apolitical.

    He warned criminals to stay away from the state as the Police under his command will deploy every strategy to ensure that the state is crime free.

    The CP also warned politicians in the state to play by the rules at all times, warning that the Police will not spare any politician who breaks the law before, during or after the elections.

    “Officers that will work with me have been directed to ensure that they operate in line with international best practices. By this, we are going to be responsible, responsive, reliable and one that you can always trust.

    “We will always work with your cooperation and with you the good people of the salt State-Ebonyi State. We intend to achieve that feat by reducing crime and criminality to its barest minimum.

    “Strategies we are going to employ include community policing, inter agency cooperation ie synergy with other security services, visibility policing, massive deployment, intelligence gathering, stop and search and raid on identified criminal hideout.

    “Let me cease this opportunity to warn unscrupulous elements, hoodlums and people who do not choose to be law-abiding, people that have penchant for inflicting excruciating pains on law-abiding citizens to have rethink because the police in conjunction with other security agencies will not fold their arms”.

    “Let me vociferously yell you that that insinuation is mendacious and totally false. There is a saying that if the head is perfect, other parts of the body certainly will be perfect.

    “We have an Inspector General of Police that is allergic to corruption and allergic to anything that is anti-social. And by this, we have been directed to ensure that at all times; we should be professional before, during and after the elections. I assure you that we are going to be apolitical”, he stated.

    Meanwhile, the Leadership of Ohaneze Youths Council, OYC, has dissociated itself from the sit-at-home order called by IPOB for Friday.

    The group also said there is a possibility of further loss of lives if the sit-at-home turns bloody.

    “Security agents may capitalize on the exercise to unleash state terror on unarmed Biafra agitators”, said the statement signed by Obinna Achuonye, Deputy President General of OYC.

    “OYC insists that to avert and save the lives of our Igbo Youths who shouldn’t lose their lives while remembering those who lost their lives, we thereby ask IPOB to join Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide in the Prayer sessions and Candle night we are organizing on that day”.

    “We have also checked the economic loss and implications the sit-at-home will bring to Ndigbo especially now that parents are struggling to return their children back to Schools. IPOB should re -consider their stand and call off the sit-at-home,” OYC added.