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Tag: Nnamdi Kanu

  • Sit-at-home: Nnamdi Kanu is new leader of Ndigbo – IYM

    Sit-at-home: Nnamdi Kanu is new leader of Ndigbo – IYM

    Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) said Wednesday that the success of Tuesday’s sit-at-home order has proved to the world that “Nnamdi Kanu is the leader of Ndigbo “.

    In statement by the founder of IYM, Evang. Elliot Ugochukwu-Ukoh, the group said “he lives in our hearts.”

    “Nnamdi has broken the jinx. He has successfully done that, which they thought couldn’t be done. He commands the loyalty of our people, and that’s a wonderful thing. He is our leader in whom we are well pleased.

    “Our people, especially the younger generation have been craving for a sincere leader they would follow, one who will not trade them off, they believe they have been stuck with imposed leaders thrown up by the incongruent, strange and unitary Nigerian structure.

    “They have helplessly watched over the years as INEC, Wadata plaza and Aso villa imposed leaders on them.

    “Tuesday May 30th was a great opportunity for them to tell the world: Nnamdi Kanu is our leader, he lives in our hearts. Their total compliance to the IPOB sit at home order is a powerful statement. Its implication is not lost on the powers that be. It’s a watershed in our history, with far reaching consequences.

    “The issue now is how do we use this to get a better deal for our people. How well can the gains from this great event be properly and intelligently harnessed and used for the common good of all. Nnamdi has done very well.”

     

     

     

  • Biafra: Kanu disowns American radio

    Biafra: Kanu disowns American radio

    …Announces reorganisation in IPOB

    The leader of the group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has dissociated himself and members of his association from a certain Radio Biafra based in the United States.

    He also said a reorganisation has been effected in the leadership of the group, resulting in, among others, the abolition of the title of Coordinator of all Coordinators (COC).

    Kanu urged IPOB members to observe the sit-at-home planned for May 30 this year peacefully. He said the exercise was to remember Biafra heroes, who died during the Civil War and at other times.

    In a statement issued yesterday by his lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Kanu said the official voice of IPOB remains the Radio Biafra based in London, registered under the relevant laws in the United Kingdom (UK).

    He said a supposed Radio Biafra, said to have been recently launched in the US is not known to him and his members, and did not represent their interests.

    Part of the letter reads:

    “Nnamdi Kanu remains the founder, and director of Radio Biafra London and accordingly Deputized by Mazi Uche Mefor. Radio Biafra London is the officially sanctioned channel of communication of IPOB, through which every information concerning the affairs of IPOB are disseminated. “At the same time, all members of IPOB and the general public are hereby  duly informed that the position of C.O.C (Coordinator of all Coordinators) overall, has been abolished following the recent reorganisation carried out by the leadership  of IPOB worldwide.

    “Henceforth any person parading himself with the title C.O.C should be regarded and treated as a criminal.

    “Following this radical change in the structural setup of IPOB, the world Administrative Headquarters of IPOB is now situated in London and Germany respectively. 

    Related: Okoro Tale of Biafra anti-heroes

    “The officers with the mandate of the leadership of IPOB and through whom the supreme leader Nnamdi Kanu speaks remains Radio Biafra London with satellite stations in South Africa, Malaysia, Germany and soon to be opened United State of America. 

    “The two persons appointed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as being responsible for communicating his thoughts and views to IPOB membership and the rest of the world remains Uche Mefor (the Deputy Leader of IPOB) and Mazi Chika Edoziem (the Head of the Directorate of State of the IPOB). 

    “All authority to issue directives rests with the Deputy Leader, Uche Mefor and Mazi Chika Edoziem. Any press release, announcement or communication purportedly issued by any other person other than the above named principal officers or officers acting on their instruction are to be discountenanced and ignored by the general public.

    Related: Don’t provoke Kanu – IPOB warns

    “Above named officers of (IPOB) are the authorized representatives, appointed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, at the helm of affairs of IPOB. 

    “Anybody transacting or relating with any other person, other than Uche Mefor and Chika Edoziem or those appointed by them are doing so at their own risk.”

  • Biafra agitation is about my people – Kanu

    Biafra agitation is about my people – Kanu

    The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has said urged critics of the Biafra agitation to have a rethink, saying the Republic is a place where things will work.

    Speaking in Umuahia, Abia State, the IPOB leader said many people have misconception about the agitation, adding that the clamour for Biafra Republic is about his people and their freedom.

    He insisted that nothing will make him to back out of the agitation  until his people are free.

    He said, “I believe that you are aware that America and Canada have been giving people visa to come and live in their place and only those who are ready to abide by their rules go there.

    “That is exactly the kind of life style we are going to adopt as we have no intention to discriminate against anyone who wants to live in our land. It will be a country where everything will work the way it is supposed to work.”

    Kanu said many politicians are afraid of identifying with the cause “because they think we are after their position which has made them to allow the status quo to remain at the detriment of our people.”

    “We are not after any politician position and will never be. All we want is to ensure that things are done the right way so that our people can be free from modern day slavery,” he added.

  • Nnamdi Kanu’s grand entry

    Nnamdi Kanu’s grand entry

    SIR: It was a meteoric entrance into prominence orchestrated by an electronic age conman not so familiar with Igbo history but was a brilliant theatre artist with clear scripts of his path to political prominence.

    The tragedy is that he used a humiliated people as cannon fodder. He had fooled a lot of people who did not know he was too young to pontificate on a system to which he was not privy. He had not been in war. He did not know Nigeria enough. He did not know enough of the war from stories of grief. He had little knowledge of Nigeria’s problems. But he found the limelight on account of Nigeria’s dumbness in seeking to muzzle free expression.

    One other Kanu had been on this path for Abacha. He crashed and vanished and earned The Dustbin of History. One Mazi Goddy Uwazurike had earlier claimed to be anointed by Ojukwu for Ndigbo. He had his fill of funds expropriated from restive young men itching for change to circumstances created for youth during Biafra War which made them incarnate in worse conditions they seeded in previous incarnations. He lives in relative opulence now and speaks no further of his anointment. I had warned restive youth in my clan that they should not bother about Biafra until Ndigbo found unity. They listened to me and pieced their lives together with their half education. In the meantime school age drew by and they were lost to dreams and fantasies of a nation in anticipation of which they had shared offices based on phantoms created by subterranean media. One of them was Nnamdi Kanu’s.

    Now the youth can lay down arms once more and believe me. No one should hurry the sunrise.

    Peoples Democratic Party led us to the path of ruin through 16 years and our assets for growth got burnt up in the process. Providence threw up an indigene from a disadvantaged region to midwife federalism and he goofed over another chance to sit on the saddle. He was a goner for it. He slept over Resolutions of National Conference 2014 that ought to have brightened survival chances for the contraption called Nigeria.

    In comes a strangest figure in Nnamdi with Biafra Mantra that was dropped like hot lead upon regaining freedom. This is a third error. There should not be another. Technocrats should step forward and keep charlatans at bay perpetually. We have burnt our Nature’s dose of good luck even in the hands of Goodluck.

     

    • M A C Odu,

    profmarkodu@yahoo.co.uk

  • South East Senators, IPOB leader meet in Abuja

    South East Senators, IPOB leader meet in Abuja

    …As Ekweremadu raises alarm over alleged plot by EFCC to frame him

     

    The recently released leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu late on Tuesday met with South East Senators.

    The meeting held in the Apo Legislative Quarters residence of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, was said to have been used by the IPOB leader to thank the senators for their efforts to secure his release.

    A source privy to the meeting said that the senators asked Kanu to endeavour to honour the bail conditions under which he was released by an Abuja Federal High Court on April 28, 2017.

    The senators were also said to have assured Kanu that they were working to actualize the three IPOB members still in detention.

    He said that the South East senators did not ask Kanu to shelve his agitation for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra.

    He added that the meeting also stressed the need for unity and development in the South East zone.

    The meeting came as Ekweremadu on Wednesday raised the alarm over alleged plot by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to frame him up and arrest him.

    Ekweremadu who raised the alarm on the floor of the Senate read an alert letter he received from an unnamed informant.

    The informant asked Ekweremadu to “Please treat this with utmost secrecy by protecting the identity of the source.”

    A source close to Ekweremadu informed that “We suspect that the EFCC is coming after key members of the South East Senate caucus due to their roles in the release of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mr Nnamdi Kanu.”

    He said that members of the South Caucus “met at the private residence of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu in Abuja on Tuesday night, where they extensively discussed the alleged looming political persecution.”

    His listed some of those in attendance at the meeting to include, Kanu, Ekweremadu, Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Theodore Orji, Andy Uba, Hope Uzodinma, Gilbert Nnaji, Sam Egwu and Sonni Ugbuoji.

    Findings also showed that prior to the release of Kanu on April 28, members of the caucus met on several occasions at Ekweremadu’s Apo residence to strategise on how to get Kanu out of the hook.

    It was at one of the meetings that Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe elected to serve as the surety to Kanu.

    The source said that “the Presidency may be unhappy over the roles played by Senators, especially Ekweremadu and Abaribe.”

    Senator Ekweremadu told the Senate that he was alerted about alleged plot by the EFCC to invade his country home in Enugu and other apartments, under the guise of searching for looted funds and guns.

    Ekweremadu read the letter said to have been written to him by an unnamed informant, informing him of EFCC’s plans and alleged plot by the anti-graft agency to “plant arms and ammunition in his apartment during the raid.”

    He said that the intention was to label him as a corrupt politician, unfit to hold any public office.

    Ekweremadu added that plans have also been concluded by EFCC to use groups to protest in major cities across the country, calling for his resignation and prosecution.

    The letter read in part: “Distinguished Senator, there is a grand plan from the cabals in the presidency, using the EFCC as an anti-graft agency to indict and remove you from office. These cabal in the presidency have mandated the EFCC chairman to carry out this evil operation within two weeks.

    “On the 6th of May Saturday night 2017/Sunday morning, the EFCC alongside local and international media both print and TV will raid an apartment under the guise of whistle blowing policy of the Federal Government.

    “They will come with a search warrant already obtained from a Magistrate Court to search an apartment alleged to be one of your guest houses in Enugu, the state capital or any available apartment in your senatorial district that will serve this evil purpose.

    “EFCC is claiming to have received a tip off from a whistle blower in your state alerting the agency of a huge amount of money of different currencies in the said apartment belonging to you, senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “They will say that the money is a proceed which is likely to be illegally obtained and acquired, which constitute abuse of office and corruption.

    “A huge amount of money with different currencies, such as British pound sterling, US dollars, Indian rupee, South Africa rand, and Malaysian Ringgit will be ‘discovered’.

    “Documents alleged to be yours, such as 2015 campaign memo and logistic, a list of names of chairmen of local wards of party men and women that benefited from your empowerment programme and other cooked up documents bearing your signature.

    “A single photo portrait of yours will be placed in the sitting room. Ammunition such as AK 47, two pump action gun with unused gun bullet will be found.

    “You will be invited by the anti-graft agency for questioning and interrogation to shed more light on the said apartment which will lead to your arrest and detention, pending the outcome of the investigation.

    “While you are still in detention, sponsored non-governmental organizations will be protesting round the nation and in cities like Lagos, Enugu, Anambra, Abuja, etc.

    “Sponsored youth in your senatorial district will come to Abuja protesting in the National Assembly gate with petitions submitted to the Senate President and one to the Clark to the National Assembly to recall you.

    “While protest is ongoing according to their evil plan, the EFCC after detaining  you for at least three weeks, you will be charge to court since section 308 immunity clause does not apply to your office.

    “The cabals in the presidency are planning to indict you and to kill your political ambition so that you can no longer stand for any future elections. They also want to show to the international community and Nigerian people that you are a corrupt politician.

    “I sympathized with you and God will continue to use people like us to destabilize their evil plan against you. I wish you all the best in your political journey.‎”

    There was no debate of the letter and Ekweremadu said that he only wanted to alert the Senate about what was likely in the offing.

     

  • Kanu: APGA commends FG

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has expressed satisfaction over the release of Mr Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra.

    Dr Victor Oye, National Chairman of the party told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Monday that the party was happy that the rule of law had been observed on the matter.

    He described the freedom of Kanu as long expected, observing that although the bail conditions were tough, they were fully met.

    “APGA is happy with the bail granted Mr Nnamdi Kanu and his eventual release from prison, this development we must say is long overdue.

    “It is also good that at last rule of law is being observed and it is a step in the right direction.

    “However, we are not comfortable with the bail conditions which the party views as stringent and punitive,’’ he said.

    The APGA chairman decried the rising agitation and tension on the country, insisting that the situation could not be controlled by force but through strict adherence to principles of true federalism.

    He said such agitations might persist in as much as the crucial national questions that gave rise to them remain unaddressed.

    “All we need is justice, equitable distribution of national wealth, implementation of the Federal Character provisions in the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    “Once these things are in place, then ethnocentric interests and agitation will be drastically reduced,’’ he said.

    Kanu was arrested in October 2015 over his activities as the anchor of Radio Biafra and had been in prison since then until he regained freedom on April 28 after the conditions of bail granted him were met.

     

  • We are working to perfect Kanu’s bail – Lawyer

    We are working to perfect Kanu’s bail – Lawyer

    The Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, is yet to perfect his bail two days after a Federal High Court in Abuja granted him bail.

    The Nation learnt that Kanu’s lawyers are battling frantically to secure his freedom by Friday afternoon.

    His lead counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, told The Nation that the legal team was doing everything within its powers to secure freedom for Kanu.

    He, however, did not rule out the option of approaching the court for a variation of the bail conditions should the need arises.

    “We are still on it. We have met some of the conditions but not all. By mid-day tomorrow (Friday) we shall have a clear picture of what the situation is and what further steps to be taken.

    “We are working assiduously to ensure that he regains his freedom,” Ejiofor on Thursday.

     

  • Court grants Kanu bail on health grounds

    Court grants Kanu bail on health grounds

    A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday granted bail to the leader of a pro-Biafra group, Nnamdi Kanu, on health grounds.

    Kanu was granted bail following a bail application filed by his lawyer after part of the charges filed against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader and three others were struck out by the court.

    The other accused persons are the National Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu and one David Nwawuisi.

    However, only Kanu was granted bail by Justice Binta Nyako on Tuesday.

    The judge barred the IPOB leader from granting press interview while on bail.

    She also warned Kanu not to participate in any rally or be found in a crowd of more than 10 persons during the course of his  bail.

  • Fayose appears in court for Kanu

    Fayose appears in court for Kanu

    Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, made a surprise appearance in court on Tuesday in solidarity with the detained Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, whose trial comes up before Justice Murtala Nyako later in the day.

    Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, said the governor is now seated in High Court 4, Abuja.

    Kanu is arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) on multiple charges of criminal conspiracy, intimidation and membership of an illegal organization, among others.

    Details later…

     

  • IPOB: Court reserves ruling on review to April 25

    The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday reserved ruling on whether or not it will reverse its order on witness protection in the ongoing trial of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu to April 25.

    Justice Binta Nyako, on March 27, insisted that she would not review her judgment on the issue of protecting the identity of the witnesses as long they were security operatives.

    “I will not vary my order on protection of security operatives; It is either they wear a mask or are behind a screen.

    “Security operatives need to be protected not because of this case but because of the future, and so as long as the witnesses are security personnel, they will be taken behind a screen,” Nyako said.

    But counsel to the defendants maintained that since some of the charges against the defendants had been struck out, there was need for the order to be reviewed to reflect the current charges.

    At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the prosecuting counsel, Mr Shuaibu Labaran, told the court that the matter was slated for argument on the application to review the court’s decision on witness protection.

    Counsel to Kanu, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor told the court that he had filed an application asking the court to review its stand on protecting the identity of witnesses in the case.

    Ejiofor said that part of the reason he filed the application was on the grounds that six out of the initial 11-count charge against the defendant were struck out.

    He prayed the court to vacate the order it made allowing the prosecution witnesses to give evidence behind a shield and to instead order the witnesses to testify in an open court.

    Mr E.I Eseme, counsel to the third defendant, Benjamin Madubugwu, in his argument, also prayed the court for the same relief, adding that his application was brought pursuant to Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution.

    He urged the court to review the order it made on Dec. 13, 2016, to shield witnesses, set aside the order and direct that all witnesses should testify in public.

    Eseme added that his client was not standing trial for any of the offences that required witness protection.

    According to him, Section 36(4) of the 1999 Constitution provides that it is mandatory for proceedings in all criminal trials to be public.

    He noted that there was no counter- affidavit from the prosecution, adding that it could only mean that the facts were not contradicted and so they were not opposing the application.

    Mr Chukwuma Ozougwu, counsel to the fourth defendant, David Nwawuisi, also towed the same line of argument and urged the court to grant the application in favour of his client.

    Labaran, in his reply, prayed the court to dismiss the three applications on the grounds that they were frivolous and a deliberate attempt to delay the prosecution of the case.

    He told the court that the claim by the defence counsel that since he did not file a counter affidavit, the court should assume that he was in support of the application should be discountenanced.

    According to him, if the defendants have a problem with the ruling of the court that witnesses should be protected, they should appeal the decision.

    He added that moreover, it was only journalists and the general public that would not see the witnesses but only hear them as all the defendants, the lawyers and the judge would see the witnesses.

    He said the order was granted based on the discretionary powers given to the judge by Section 232 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

    Justice Nyako adjourned the matter until April 25 to rule on both the application to review the witness protection order and bail.