“If I were Outside, Nobody Can Try This’: IPOB Leader Kanu Reads Riot Act to Those ‘Committing Crime In IPOB’s Name’

The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on Tuesday, dissociated himself from the ongoing insecurity in the Southeast, warning that those behind the wanton destruction of lives and property in the name of IPOB would not go free.

A visibly angry Kanu, who spoke with journalists inside the courtroom, shortly after the end of  proceedings, however, alleged that the crisis has festered in the zone because some persons in government were complicit.

He claimed that were he to be free, nobody would make an order stopping people from going about their legitimate businesses on Mondays.

Residents of the region have been forced to observe a sit-at-home every Monday, since the arrest and detention of Kanu, especially anytime Kanu was being taking to court for trial.

He said, “Anybody committing crime cannot go free. I swear it. Anybody committing crime in the east cannot go free. They are doing it because they know I am in DSS ( custody).

“If I were to be outside, nobody can try this, and I suspect that some people in government are complicit. They are making money with the insecurity. They know if Nnmadi Kanu is outside, in two minutes, this nonsense will stop.

“Anybody involved in any form of violence in the East in the name of IPOB is a goner and they know it. Let me come out of this mess, only two minutes there will be peace in the East”.

Meanwhile, some Southeast members of the House of Representatives led by Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, have described the rejection of Kanu’s bail application as another major setback for a healing process and the return of peace in the region.

The lawmakers, which included Hon. Obi Aguocha and leader of the opposition party, said they received the rejection of the bail application with sadness, adding that if it were granted, it would have been the beginning of healing process in the region.

Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato South and North in the House, appealed to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to invoke the relevant section of the Constitution to discontinue Mazi Kanu trial.

“We received the news of the rejection of the bail with sadness and we just lost an opportunity to commence the process of healing in our land. That bail application, if granted would have brought an opportunity to open doors for discussion to bring about peace in the South East,” he said.

Justice Binta Nyako of a Federal High Court in Abuja, had turned down a fresh application for bail by Kanu.

Nyako, who turned down the application however, ordered accelerated trial of the case, adding that the only option opened to Kanu was to have gone to Court of Appeal to challenge the earlier refusal.

The judge also refused to give unfettered access to just anybody to visit Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS), over security concerns.

The court had on February 26 adjourned to March 19, for ruling in the fresh bail application.

The IPOB leader has been in custody of the Department of State Service (DSS) since 2021, when he was extradited back to Nigeria from Kenya, to continue his alleged treasonable felony trial.

Beside stating that her ruling in the bail application would be delivered on the above date, Nyako held that the trial would also continue Wednesday, March 20.

The court fixed the date after lawyers representing parties in the suit argued for and against the grant of the bail.

Alex Enumah