When the topic of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is brought up, it provokes strong reactions and opinions.
Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Security since his extraordinary rendition from Kanya to Nigeria.
Kanu’s charges have continued to grow, with his most recent court appearance in January seeing his charges rise from a reduced seven-count charge to an additional eight, bringing the total to fifteen.
His charges are eerily similar to those of terrorism and treason.
Nnamdi Kanu Is A Smart Man- Senator Okorocha
Senator Rochas Okorocha has described Nnamdi Kanu, the Indigenous People of Biafra’ s leader, as a clever individual who used the Igbo’ s dissatisfaction and inexperience.
Okorocha made the comments during an interview with Arise TV, in which he discussed IPOB’ s secessionist activities in the Southeast.
Okorocha maintained that the majority of Southeast youth are not secessionists but unhappy Nigerians screaming against the system, which makes them easy targets for IPOB’ s objective.
” The issue of IPOB is very controversial and they are the agitations of some young men seeking for relevance who even disrespected me during my tenure as a governor; I don’ t see them as secessionists.
” They had been told that the rest of the country hates them. Nnamdi Kanu is a smart man who got these people to think as he wanted, ” he stated.
Aloy Ejimakor Agrees With Okorocha’ s Point About Kanu Being Intelligent
Meanwhile, Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, has reacted to Rochas Okorocha’ s claim that the agitator is intelligent.
Ejimakor concurred with Okorocha, emphasising Kanu’ s exceptional intelligence.
He told DAILY POST in an interview that the IPOB leader loved his people ” to the hilt. ”
Ejimakor said that; ” I agree with Okorocha that Nnamdi Kanu is smart. Not just smart but profoundly smart. And he loves his people to the hilt” .
Nigeria Should Release Nnamdi Kanu- Ayaba’ s Ambazonian Leader
In another connected event, DAILY POST revealed last month that Ayaba Cho Lucas, an Ambazonian activist, has petitioned the Nigerian authorities to release Biafra agitator Nnamdi Kanu.
In response to the legal dispute between the FG and Kanu, Ayaba dubbed the IPOB leader ” Biafra and Africa’ s gift” and pleaded for his release.
” Nigeria’ s Price. Biafra and Africa’ s gift. This Generation will not Blink until all the systems of curtailment and anarchy are dismantled and buried in the dustbin of history. Free this man” , he tweeted.
The former Secretary- General of the Southern Cameroons Youth League now chairs the Ambazonia Governing Council.
Ambazonia, also known as Amba Land, was self- declared as a state in West Africa in 2017, including Cameroon’ s Northwest and Southwest provinces.
Prof Hezekiah Demand The Unconditional Release Of Nnamdi Kanu
Similarly, Professor Daddy Hezekiah is the Founder and Leader of Living Christ Mission Inc. globally, as well as the Proprietor/Chancellor of Hezekiah University in Umudi, Imo State, according to a report by SUN NEWS last October.
He pleaded with Mr. President to get himself from his slumber and ensure the safety of Nigerians. Hezekiah stated that IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu is not a terrorist but a liberation warrior, urging the UK to exert pressure on the Nigerian government to unconditionally release him. He also addressed other subjects.
When Professor Hezekiah was asked if Kanu was a terrorist, he stated;
” A terrorist is different from a freedom fighter or agitator. A freedom fighter or agitator is somebody who is fighting for liberation or secession of his people.
He is protesting against the policy of government against his people or marginalization as the case maybe in Igbo land. That is what Nnamdi Kanu is fighting and not throwing bomb to places and killing people. ”
According to the professor, a terrorist is someone who seeks to destroy lives and property; Kanu is not a terrorist.
He argued that the IPOB leader is merely fighting for the Igbo people’ s rights.
” I have never heard that Kanu planted a bomb anywhere as terrorists do in churches, markets and public places.
” He is not a terrorist, and therefore his arrest is illegal. If Kanu is a terrorist, I will never support him. ”
Hezekiah stated that he (Kanu) has never harmed anyone and is a responsible man who does not bother the government but is concerned about the Igbo people’ s marginalisation.
IPOB Are Thieves, Not Patriots- Buhari
Despite the outpouring of praise for Nnamdi Kanu and his organisation, IPOB, President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) for wreaking havoc in the South- East and sections of the South- South, branding them thieves and terrorists.
The president stated this in a statement issued Sunday by his media assistant Garba Shehu.
Mr Buhari, on the other hand, insisted that in order to succeed, communities must band together in the face of these heinous crimes, stating that retributive violence was not the answer.
He pressed religious, traditional, and community leaders to preach peace and to work to prevent violence.
” Attempts to simplify the reasons into a basic narrative may help raise donor- dollars for international NGOs, fill pages of overseas newspapers and burnish foreign politicians’ faith credentials, ” Mr Buhari claimed.
” But this does not increase understanding, nor offer solutions. If anything, simplistic theorising and finger- pointing make the situation worse. ”
He noted that ” it is important both for Nigerians and the international community to appreciate that there are” a plethora of causes contributing to Nigeria’ s deteriorating security situation.
Mr Buhari continued, ” there are no religious connotations at all when the primary purpose of these acts is to extract money. ”
The president emphasised that the violent struggle between ” herders and farmers” was an issue of ” water and land, ” not religion.
Regarding IPOB’ s activities, Mr Buhari stated that ” further afield in the South- East, IPOB are not struggling for freedom when they attack police stations and property, but rather committing acts of terrorism” in order to steal money.
” IPOB is not defending Christians, as their highly paid foreign lobbyists claim, ” Mr Buhari observed, ” when almost every citizen of those states they terrorize is uniformly Christian. “