Release me today, I will end insecurity in South-East within two minutes — Nnamdi Kanu

Release me today, I will end insecurity in South-East within two minutes — Nnamdi Kanu

Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, says he has the capacity to end insecurity in the South-East of Nigeria within two minutes if he is released from detention.

Kanu has been in detention at the State Security Service (SSS) since he was rearrested and brought back to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021.

The IPOB leader is facing terrorism charges at a Federal High Court, Abuja.

Kanu said on Tuesday that the insecurity in the South-East had been going on because of his incarceration at the SSS facility.

He spoke in Abuja after a Federal High Court, Abuja had again denied him bail and turned down his request to be transferred from the DSS detention to Kuje prison.

He said, “Anybody involved in any form of violence or insecurity in the South-East in the name of IPOB is a loner and they know it.

“Let me come to this place. Two minutes only! Only two minutes, I guarantee you and there will be peace in the East, not just in the South-East, everywhere in the East, if not the entire South.”

A video clip which showed the separatist leader making the comments has been trending on various social media platforms.

Kanu said he had suspicion that some officials of the Nigerian government were behind the insecurity in the two regions because they were allegedly making money from the situation in the areas.

“They (the government officials) know that if Nnamdi Kanu is out, in two minutes, this nonsense will stop,” he said, adding that nobody could challenge his order in the region.

Kanu also said those carrying out attacks in the two regions in the name of IPOB were criminals.

“Anybody abducting people, killing people for the sake of achieving Biafra, that person is a criminal. Anybody who engages in robbery, sabotage, kidnapping or committing all these things in the name IPOB is a criminal,” he said in Igbo language.

“We are here to fight for our freedom for justice, equity and fairness. That’s what we are fighting for; nothing more; nothing less.”

Kanu, the IPOB leader, was first arrested in 2015 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on 13 October 2022, faulted the IPOB leader’s rendition to Nigeria and that the action was a flagrant violation of the country’s extradition treaty and a breach of his fundamental human rights.

The court then struck out the terrorism charges filed against him by the Federal government and ordered his release by the SSS.

But the government refused to release the IPOB leader, insisting that he (Kanu) could be unavailable in subsequent court proceedings and that his release would cause insecurity in the South-East.

The government, through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, later appealed the court ruling and subsequently obtained an order staying the execution of the court judgment at the Supreme Court.

Delivering judgment on the appeal on 15 December, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal granted to Kanu by the lower court and consequently ordered continuation of his trial at the Federal High Court Abuja.