Nnamdi Kanu was present this Thursday, October 21 at the opening of his trial before the High Court of Justice in Abuja. The craziest rumors have circulated about him since his arrest on June 27. Already, the place of the arrest, possibly Kenya, has not been confirmed by the authorities. After 124 days with no news – some said he was sick or even dead –, he arrived at the courthouse flanked by heavily armed police.
An escort equal to the charges of terrorism and treason brought against the leader of the IPOB (Indigenous people of Biafra), the Biafran independence party. The separatist leader is now facing three new charges relating to acts of violence and dead city operations, forcing people to stay at home.
Leader of IPOB, His Excellency @MaziNnamdiKanu Has Pleaded Not Guilty To The Charges Leveled Against Him .. @ 10DowningStreet @USinNigeria @UKinNigeria @EUinNigeria @IsraelinNigeria @ CatrionaLaing1 @UKParliament @UNWatch pic.twitter.com/ungCOrYIsB
– Soludoh Di Aso (@SoludohDi) October 21, 2021
(Translation: “Ipob’s leader, His Excellency Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.”)
According to the established formula, the trial takes place under high tension. Never had the standoff between the federal government and the independence movements been so intense. IPOB is no exception. The aim of the movement is to recreate the separatist state of Biafra, which existed in the south-east of the country and led, between 1967 and 1970, to the terrible civil war which had caused the death of nearly a million people. . Despite everything, the desire for secession on the part of the Igbo ethnic group has not disappeared.
The character is unique. Born in 1967, he also holds British citizenship and has resided in the United Kingdom for a long time. He claims to be of Jewish faith and, according to him, the Igbo people (who are predominantly Christian) are a lost tribe of Israel and Biafra his promised land.
Until 2009, Nnamdi Kanu was hardly talked about, explains the BBC. That year he created Radio Biafra, a radio station based in the United Kingdom which called for the independence of Biafra. He campaigned for a time in an independentist group whose door he slammed to found the Indigenous people of Biafra in 2014.
Undoubtedly lacking recognition, Nnamdi Kanu’s speech then became more and more virulent, to the point of asking the Igbos to take up arms, during the Igbo World Congress in Los Angeles in September 2015. “We need guns and we need bullets”, he cried from the podium.
For the Nigerian authorities, this is too much. Kanu was arrested at his hotel in Lagos in October 2015, while visiting Nigeria. Accused of treason, he spent nearly two years behind bars. Released from prison on bail, he will disappear and flee abroad to finally be arrested, possibly in Kenya, last June. In the process, the IPOB is classified “terrorist organization” in 2017.
If the IPOB rejects all accusations of violence, the attacks have increased since the beginning of the year in the region. At least 127 police or members of the security forces were killed and around 20 police stations and electoral commission offices were stormed in 2021, according to local media. Conversely, according to the NGO Amnesty International, arbitrary arrests and fierce repression are the common lot of secessionist movements in Nigeria. According to Amnesty, 115 people were killed in the south between March and June 2021.