The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has stated that its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is a prisoner of conscience in Nigeria custody and should be released from detention.
The group further stated that Kanu is yet to be released because he has refused to compromise his stand on Biafra
The IPOB, in a statement by its media and publicity secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, accused the Nigeria government of masterminding the extraordinary rendition of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021, stressing that the IPOB leader has been illegally detained in solitary confinement, despite court judgments in his favour.
“Nigeria is illegally detaining him while they are targeting to destroy IPOB. Unfortunately, the indestructible ideology of restoring Biafra has kept IPOB moving along in our quest to restore the sovereign nation of Biafra.
“IPOB and Ndigbo globally must continue the campaign for the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu. He did not commit any offence for seeking self-determination for the marginalized Indigenous people of Biafra. Instead, his demand is in line with the UN convention on civil and political rights for the Indigenous People of Biafra.
“Moreover, he has kept his faith and promises without betraying his people even after being illegally detained for nearly four (4) years by the Nigerian government inside the dungeon of DSS in solitary confinement.
“In October 2022, the Nigerian Appeals Court in Abuja discharged and acquitted him, but the lawless government of Nigeria refused to release him. Also, the UN Committee on Arbitrary Detention condemned the abduction, extraordinary rendition, and illegal detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and called for his unconditional release. All these resolutions and court judgments have been disobeyed by the same lawless federal government of Nigeria.”
IPOB explained that the Nigerian government knows that Kanu committed no crime known to local or international law, but has continued to display ethnic hatred against Ndigbo by
persecuting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is being persecuted, not prosecuted. The Nigerian government should understand that IPOB can not be destroyed but can only be emboldened as long as the lawless Nigerian government keeps persecuting us. Moreso, our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu understands the potency of our collective oath in this struggle and will not yield to the Nigerian government’s antics. The International Community must rise and condemn the continuous persecution and human rights violations of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Ndigbo in general by the bigot government of Nigeria.
“We are assuring the Nigerian government that IPOB can not be intimidated into abandoning the Biafra struggle. They must be reminded that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s continuous persecution will further expose the mockery of the so-called democracy in Nigeria. The Nigeria Government should not forget that since they kidnapped and extraordinarily renditioned Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Nigeria has been bedevilled with economic and security woes and will continue until the injustice against Ndigbo as exemplified in the persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is addressed.
“IPOB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remain resolute in our demand for a referendum and will not be intimidated and persecuted into submission by the tyranny of the government of Nigeria.
“In the end, Biafra will come, but the wounds of the persecution and wickedness against Ndigbo will take decades to heal. Nigeria must consider the future with the wound it inflicted on Biafrans in mind.”