2019: IPOB leader, Kanu, join forces against Buhari

THE missing leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr Nnamdi Kanu, who was on Friday sighted in Israel, may have decided to join the country’s opposition elements trying to effect a change through the ballot in the 2019 elections.

This was as his sudden re-appearance in Israel appeared to have rekindled the agitation for a separate state of Biafra by the group in the South-East.

The federal authorities had banned and declared the organisation a terrorist group, culminating in a crackdown on its leadership by security agencies, with uncertainties surrounding the whereabouts of Kanu for months.

Reports from Enugu State, on Saturday, showed mixed reactions, following the sighting of the activist praying at the Wailing Wall in Israel.

While some people were indifferent on the development, a few others, mostly youths, contended that the presence of Kanu would heighten the pro-Biafra agitation, particularly in South-East zone of the country.

The IPOB leader, whose house was invaded by the military in September last year, it was said, would address a world press conference later today.

Giving an indication to this on Saturday, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a close ally of Kanu, told Sunday Tribune that the IPOB leader had decided to pitch tent with other Nigerians who are rooting for President Muhammadu Buhari, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to be voted out in next year’s elections.

According to Fani kayode, he received a call from the Biafran leader on Saturday and got assurance that he was in good health.

“I can tell you that my brother, Nnamdi Kanu, has decided to join forces with all democracy lovers in the country to vote out Buhari in 2019.

“He has now understood that the era of just watching as events unfold will not do any good for his people, the good people of Igbo. He is going to join us in the struggle ahead,” Fani Kayode said, confirming that the IPOB leader would address the press today.

“We are not after whatever arrangement the political parties and politicians might have made in their different states. What we are after is to ensure the government of Buhari is replaced by another government that will preserve the rule of law, protect every Nigerian and free our country from poverty,” Fani-Kayode insisted.

The former Minister of Aviation disclosed that Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had also spoken to the IPOB leader.

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Pro-Biafra agitation resumes

Kanu’s reappearance appears to have re-ignited the passion of pro-Biafra campaigners.

Media  and Publicity Secretary of IPOB,  Emma Powerful,  insisted that they would boycott next year’s general election “unless there is a referendum in the country, allowing every ethnic nationality to determine whether they will remain in Nigeria or not.”

Apparently to express their joy in having their leader back in the struggle, Mr Powerful, in a statement he issued on Saturday, which was made available to Sunday Tribune in Enugu stated: “We the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wish to announce to Biafrans, friends of Biafra, lovers of freedom, men and women of goodwill across the world that the supreme Leader of the Indigenous people of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will be coming live on Radio Biafra London on Sunday October 21, 2018 [today] at 6 p.m. Biafran time.

The statement further reads: “IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been missing since September last year after Nigerian Army invaded his compound that resulted into the killings of many IPOB members and other Biafrans who were coming to visit him in his compound at Afaraukwu Ibeku Umuahia, Abia State.

“Our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, will speak during his broadcast to Biafrans, friends of Biafra and the world at large on his whereabouts over a year now and what transpired on the 14th of September, 2017, as Nigeria military invaded his father’s compound during its operation python dance 2 and why he decided to talk. He will also give highlights on our upcoming and uncompromised referendum for Biafra freedom.”