From Uchenna Ezeadigwe 


The Indigenous People of Biafra on Thursday traced  Nigeria's economic and security woes to the kidnapping and extra-judicial detention of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who was kidnapped from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021.


Media and Publicity Secretary to IPOB, Comrade Emma Powerful disclosed this in a press statement made avaliable to newsmen. 


According to Powerful, "The Directorate of State (DOS) of the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi kanu wish to remind the public and the International Community that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of indigenous People of Biafra IPOB remains a prisoner of conscience in Nigeria custody".


"The Nigeria Government masterminded the kidnap and extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021. Since then, he has been illegally detained in solitary confinement of the lawless DSS facility in Abuja Nigeria, despite court judgments in favour of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB. 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. The Nigerian government had sponsored criminal groups to carry out violence in the South Eastern Region with the name of IPOB". 


"These State sponsored criminals were playing the scripts of their sponsors to drag IPOB and Biafrans into an unprepared war with the murderous Nigeria military. That is why they claimed to be the Biafra Liberation Army and targeting the Nigerian Security Forces in Biafra Land. But in all of these, their covert operations have failed".


"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. The Nigerian government and her cronies know that Mazi Kanu has not committed any crime known to local or international body, but continue to display their ethnic hatred against Ndigbo by persecuting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He has not been let go because he has not compromised his stand on Biafra, and IPOB has not been destroyed. 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 kidnap and extraordinary 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", the statement concludes.