Home » Tag Archives: IPOB

Tag Archives: IPOB

Court remands 140 IPOB members for alleged treason in Enugu

Editor May 23, 2019 Latest, News Leave a comment

An Enugu East Magistrates Court presided by Magistrate A. N. Chioke has remanded 140 members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra over an alleged treason.

The defendants, who were brought to the court in three 608 buses and one 18-seater bus, were said to have conspired to commit treasonable felony.

They were however, arraigned outside the court for about two hours as the court room could not accommodate them.

The offence was said to be punishable under Sect. 516 (A) of the Criminal Code CAP C38, Laws of Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004 as applicable in Enugu State.

When the charge was read, the defendants pleaded not guilty.
One of the defense counsels, Osita Abalu, applied for their bail on the grounds that there was no evidence to back up the charge.

Abalu said that the prosecution had failed to provide probable cause why the defendants should be remanded in court in line with Sect. 234 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws of Enugu State, 2017.
He urged the court to exercise its powers under Sect. 225 of the same law and grant bail to the defendants.

Abalu said that though the offence for which the defendants were charged was punishable with life imprisonment, Sect. 88 of the ACJL, the Magistrates Court was qualified to grant bail.

He also urged the court to order the release of the four buses conveying the defendants to the venue of the burial.
Counsel to the 107 defendant, F.C. Okeke, told the court that it was ridiculous for the prosecution to claim that the defendants attempted to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari.

Okeke said that the defendants were arrested on their way to a burial and wondered how that could translate to over throwing the government.
He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari is in Abuja, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is in Enugu while the defendants were arrested in Nsukka.”

The counsel described the charge as trumped-up and meant to deny the defendants of their fundamental rights.
Okeke said that the prosecution deliberately brought the matter to the Magistrates Court just to punish them.
He said: “An accused person cannot be brought to a court when such court has no jurisdiction to entertain the matter just to punish them.
“That is the essence of the ACJL of Enugu State. The law does not want an innocent soul to suffer.

“The defendants were arrested with no evidence; not even a razor blade. They were going to a burial.”
Okeke urged the court to grant them bail in the most lenient means.

However, the prosecution counsel, Paschal Nwachukwu, urged the court to discountenance the bail application.
Nwachukwu said that the law empowered prosecutors to bring defendants to a magistrate for remand.
He said that a court could not grant bail in a matter it had no jurisdiction.

In her ruling, Chioke declined jurisdiction in the case and remanded the defendants in Enugu Prisons and urged the defense team to make application in the appropriate court.
The magistrate ordered the release of the four vehicles to their owners on bond and on the provision of proof of ownership and particulars.

He said: “The charge the defendants are remanded for is treasonable but the prosecution did not list any exhibit of weapon of warfare against them.
“The only document against them before the court is the charge sheet. This looks to me like a trumped up charge.”

34 ‘IPOB members’ arrested over murder of police inspector

Editor November 24, 2018 Latest, News Leave a comment

The police command in Anambra has arrested 34 suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB) in connection with the killing of a police inspector in Nnewi.

Haruna Mohammed, police spokesman of the command, made the disclosure in a statement on Saturday.

Haruna said some personnel and a divisional police officer (DPO) were also wounded while a police patrol van was set ablaze.

The spokesman said anti-riot police mobile force ( PMF ), counter terrorism unit (CTU), federal special anti-robbery squad (FSARS), EOD and special anti-cult unit personnel and conventional police have been deployed to Nnewi and environs.

Haruna said the incident took place on Friday at about 11:55am. He said there was intelligence report that members of IPOB were gathering near the Teaching Hospital, Owerri Road, Nnewi with intent to cause a breach of public peace.

He said following the report, the police patrol teams led by the area commander, Nnewi, Nnanna Ama, mobilised to the scene to disperse and prevent them from causing a breakdown of law and order.

The spokesman explained that as soon as the team arrived, the IPOB members descended on them, set ablaze one patrol vehicle and attacked them with machetes and stones.

He said: “They marched towards the Agbaedo Market shouting “no elections without referendum’.

“The injured personnel were rushed to the hospital for medical attention; where the inspector was certified dead by a medical doctor while the DPO and the ASP are presently receiving treatment.”

He said the police joint team have commenced search operations for the recovery of two AK47 rifles and one Beretta Pistol with ammunition snatched from the slain police inspector and police officers.

Haruna said efforts were on to arrest other fleeing members of the group and bring them to justice.

Judge orders Abaribe to pay N100m over Kanu’s absence in court

Editor November 14, 2018 Latest, News Leave a comment

Eyinnaya Abaribe, a senator from Abia state, has been ordered to pay N100 million into the account of a federal high court in Abuja over his inability to produce Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in court.

Justice Binta Nyako also ordered Immanuel Shalom, a Jewish priest, and Tochukwu Uchendu, an accountant, who also stood as sureties of the IPOB leader to pay N100 million each over the same issue.

She gave them two months to make the payment.

Nyako had granted Kanu bail in April 2017 while the three men stood as sureties. But he flouted all the bail condition and fled the country when soldiers raided his residence in Abia state in September 2017.

Abaribe had applied to be discharged as a surety but the court refused his application.

At the court on Wednesday, Abaribe was absent. Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, his counsel, had told the court that the senator was attending an oversight function.

Nyako adjourned the matter till March 2018.

Last month, IPOB members released a video of Kanu in Israel.

How I was smuggled out of Nigeria – Nnamdi Kanu

Editor October 29, 2018 Latest, News Leave a comment

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has revealed how he escaped during the military clamp down on the secessionist group.

In an interview with Israeli TV Channel 1, Kanu said he was “smuggled out” of the country with the help of relatives.

IPOB was the target of a Nigerian army operation code-named Operation Python Dance, launched in the south-east.

While the group was banned, Kanu went out of public glare until two weeks ago when video of him in Israel resurfaced on social media.

In the interview, Kanu alleged that 28 persons were killed during the army operation, which was largely felt around his father’s residence in Umahia, Abia state.

“When I came out (of prison), I continued to preach to my people. I continued to practise my Jewish religion,” he said.

“And one day, the Nigerian army came to my house to kill me. They killed 28 people in their attempt to kill me.

“My people evacuated me before they came to my bedroom. They took me away and smuggled me out of Nigeria. I needed some time to recover which I did and then, had to make my way to Israel.”

The IPOB leader added that he feels “relieved” that he “managed to make it” to Israel, “the only place I feel safe in the world.”

He said he could have gone back to England (where he had been for years) “but I still don’t feel safe in England. That is why I stayed back in Israel.”

JUST IN: IPOB sacks Nnamdi Kanu with immediate effect

Editor October 23, 2018 Latest, News Leave a comment

Olisa Mbakwe, one of the leaders of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), says Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the group, has been sacked.

According to Mbakwe, the sack was as a result of the Sunday broadcast credited to Kanu, which he said was a clear indication that Kanu prefers his dog, Jack, to those murdered in the struggle for the realization of Biafra.

During a broadcast aired on Sunday from his base in Israel, Kanu mourned his dog and “a few other people” in his compound, who lost their lives when troops of Operation Python Dance invaded his residence in September 2017.

“The Army of the zoo killed my dog Jack and a few other people in my compound. I am sorry for what my sureties are passing through, but I want to assure them that they will have a special place in Biafra. I shall not be honouring the court,” the IPOB leader had said in his broadcast.

However, the group said Kanu was an “insensitive and callous leader that has no value for his own followers but rather his dog, Jack whom he paid tributes to after his long disappearance from the struggle”.

They also referred to him as a “traitor not worthy of any leadership position anywhere in the world”.

Below is the full statement by Olisa Mbakwe, Director of Strategy and Documentation of IPOB;

“On Sunday, October 21, 2018, an individual, Mazi Nnamdi Nwanekaenyi Kanu, claiming to be the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Director General of Radio Biafra made a live broadcast that has left us perplexed, because it is unthinkable that someone will impersonate IPOB to the point of plotting to abuse the organization to hurt the interest of Biafra.

“The strength of the Republic of Biafra that we are struggling to actualize, is in its human resources as embodied in our versatile youths that dominate the fields of play across sectors of human endeavor; the country we have set our vision on creating is therefore not to be made up of tombstones but of people fulfilling their life missions as ordained by God.

“Nnamdi Kanu relinquished his position as the leader of IPOB struggle the day he deserted our members to die, when they had mobilized to stand for our belief in Biafra at his residence in Afaraukwu. Several of our members were injured and some died in that encounter and even after emerging from hiding more than one year later all Kanu could do was to desecrate their memory with his radio broadcast. Nnamdi Kanu vividly, specifically and particularly recalled his family dog, Jack, by name while he dismissed our members that died as mere statistics — he only recalled them as 28 IPOB members.

“Even if Kanu had not deserted, there is no way we would have continued under the leadership of a man that values his family dog more than Biafrans.

“We are not unmindful of how Kanu struck the deal that granted him bail in the first place while abandoning our members, Benjamin Madubugwu, David Nwawusi, Bright Chimezie Ishinwa and Chidiebere Onwudiwe to languish in jail. Instead of using his freedom to accelerate the freedom of these authentic freedom fighters, he rather went about Biafra land receiving obeisance from Biafrans like a monarch, when our dear land is completely republican. The travails of these our brothers are not over yet and might have been worsened by Kanu’s live broadcast, which has totally upset us.

“In line with the decisions earlier announced on Radio Biafra on November 17, 2017 that Mazi Ezenwachukwu Sampson Okwudili is the new director for the radio, we reaffirm that Mazi Nnamdi Nwanekaenyi Kanu remains sacked as the Director of Radio Biafra and has also been removed as the leader of IPOB since he has proven he is not a worthy leader that respects the sanctity of the lives of our members.

“Following interventions by our leaders, considerations were being made to reverse the earlier announcement but after studying the Kanu’s live broadcast from Israel we came to the painful conclusion that we cannot make progress with our vision of Biafra, when one man has completely personalized and commercialized the struggle. The decision to drop Nnamdi Kanu from playing leading roles in IPOB affairs is hereby upheld. We shall announce replacements after consultations with the various stakeholders.”

No deal to work against Buhari’s reelection, says IPOB

Editor October 21, 2018 Latest, Politics Leave a comment

Uche Mefor, deputy leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), says Nnamdi Kanu did not reach any agreement to work against President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection.

Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation, had said Kanu vowed to work against the reelection of Buhari when they spoke via telephone on Saturday.

But in a statement, Mefor said Fani-Kayode’s claim is “crude tactics” in an attempt to drag the name of the IPOB’s leader in the mud.

The deputy leader of IPOB said Kanu is on a “divine mission to restore Biafra and the resolve behind this restoration project remains irrevocable, sacrosanct and irreversible”.

“Our attention has been drawn to some deceptive and crude tactics employed by some politicians to drag the name of our leader, Nnamdi Kanu to the mud by suggesting that he held talks with such politicians to oust Muhammadu Buhari,” the statement read.

“We want to use this medium to state unequivocally that at no time did Nnamdi Kanu reach any agreement with any politician to participate in Nigerian politics.

“Consequently, any publication not authorised by our leader, his deputy or by the head directorate of state regarding IPOB and/or our leader is pedestrian and null and void.

“Finally, Nnamdi Kanu’s humility and courtesy in appreciating a few individuals and groups in Nigeria for what they did to assist during his incarceration cannot be construed as weakness. We invite you to listen to Nnamdi Kanu as he addresses IPOB family members and the world in general from the city of Tel Aviv in Israel on the direction of the struggle.

“It is only after this address that you will advise yourselves accordingly regarding all the lies and propaganda being peddled.”

Abia complies but Imo residents ignore IPOB’s sit-at-home order

Editor September 14, 2018 Latest, News Leave a comment

The sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) over “disappearance” of Nnamdi Kanu, its leader, recorded partial compliance in some parts of the south-east.

The secessionist group had asked the Igbo to stay indoors on Friday, to “commemorate one year of the disappearance” of Kanu.

The IPOB leader has not been seen anywhere in the country since soldiers invaded his father’s residence in Abia state. Not much is also known about the whereabouts of his parents.

Emma Powerful, IPOB spokesman, had said in a statement that while the group is pushing ahead with its quest for a sovereign state of Biafra, despite being proscribed and declared a terrorist organisation by the Defence headquarters.

“The leadership and family members of IPOB wish to reaffirm our resolve and determination to ensure a total lockdown of the whole of Biafraland. The order from IPOB remains that every Biafran, both home and abroad, is expected to stay indoors, away from work, market and roads, from dusk on Thursday September 13 to dawn on Friday September 14, 2018,” he had said.

‘COMPLIANCE AT 50% IN ENUGU’

TheCable learnt that the order is being obeyed “partially” in Enugu, with some of the residents going about their normal duties.

“There is partial obedience here but it is being obeyed well around Onitsha,” Patrick Chase, a resident, said. “Although some people are indoors, people are going about freely and cars are seen around. The compliance rate is like forty, fifty percent in Enugu.

“The partial compliance is because this is not the usual one of May 29, the one done to remember war veterans. This one is just for Nnamdi Kanu’s disappearance.”

‘SCHOOLS SHUT IN PARTS OF ANAMBRA’

The order was complied with in Onitsha, Anambra state, while schools are reportedly under lock.

A resident who identified himself as Austin Awoke said “everybody is at home”, adding that “even if they don’t comply with anywhere else, you should know Onitsha is a sure place; it is in full compliance her. You can hardly see anybody along the roads.

“I am not very sure of some other parts of the state especially in Awka, where the governor’s people are,” he said, adding: “You know Obiano does not like anything that has to do with IPOB. But in Ontisha, it is being obeyed. Even schools are closed. Not just in my area, in various parts of Onitsha. Yes, I can confirm that.”

‘MOOD SUGGESTIVE OF PARTIAL COMPLIANCE IN EBONYI’

TheCable learnt that there is also partial compliance in parts of Ebonyi, including Abakilki, the state capital.

Michael Odogwu, a resident, said: “I am not sure of some other parts of the state but it may record partial one in Abakiliki. From the mood, people may obey it but not fully. The roads are scanty to some extent for now.”

‘NO SUCH THING IN IMO’

It was learnt learnt that in Imo, “no one is bothered” about the sit-at-home order.

“People are going about their normal business. There is nothing happening here. I called my sister in town, she said no such thing,” a resident who gave her name as Nkechi, said.

Major roads in Owerri, the state capital are busy as usual with markets and motor parks open for business.

‘FULL COMPLIANCE IN ABIA’

“Compliance is okay in Abia. Many people are in their houses. The roads are empty,” Ebere Azubuike, a resident of Abia, told TheCable.

He said the markets did not open and that there are a few persons seen outside at a walking distance.

“But no one is harassing anybody,” he said, adding: “There are just few people going about their normal business. But the major markets in Aba are closed, same thing in Umuahia. People that are moving around are just within a short distance.”

He also said many residents were worried about Kanu’s whereabouts as well.

According to him, “I was around his (Kanu) place on Monday and people are not happy about it, they are still complaining, ‘let him be released.’ They are not happy about it and the soldiers coming there with the Operation Python Dance 3 is also not helping matters.”

114 female supporters of Nnamdi Kanu regain freedom

Editor August 24, 2018 Latest, News Leave a comment

A high court in Owerri, Imo state capital, has set free the 114 women who were arrested after staging a protest in support of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

A magistrate court in Owerri had ordered their detention. This sparked widespread criticism.

At the court on Friday, Ejiofor Uche, lead counsel to the women, filed a bail application which was not opposed.

Thaddeus Okey, police prosecutor, said the force was not represented in court because the matter had been referred to the state ministry of justice for legal counsel and decision.

According to Okey, the police had no powers in whatever decision that was subsequently taken by the court.

The court granted the bail application and freed the women unconditionally.
When they were arrested seven days ago, the police had accused them of “conducting an illegal assembly and holding an unlawful protest”.

Andrew Enwerem, spokesman of the Imo state police command, had rebuffed atteempts to substantiate the offence of the protesters on Thursday, as he referred the reporter to Owerri prison.

“Go to Owerri prison, you are a reporter. Go to the prison and find out,” he had said.

“I am the police spokesperson and not an investigator… If you ask me, I will say yes, some women were arrested, I don’t know their count charge.”

Police shun inquiry on arrest of female IPOB supporters

Editor August 23, 2018 Latest, News Leave a comment

The Nigeria police force have declined to speak on the offence committed by the 114 women recently arrested in Owerri, Imo state.

The women were protesting the “disappearance” of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) when they were picked by the police on Friday and subsequently charged to court.

Kanu has not been seen in public since IPOB had a clash with soldiers of the Nigerian army in Abia, last year.

It was gathered that they were picked close to Warehouse junction in the state capital, after attempts by the policemen to disperse them with teargas were unsuccessful.

When contacted on Thursday, Andrew Enwerem, spokesman of the Imo state police command, declined to state the offence of the protesters.

Asked why the police picked them up, he replied: “Go to Owerri prison, you are a reporter. Go to the prison and find out.”

TheCable, however, told him attempts have been made to have access to the prison authorities but the reporter was redirected to the police.

“I am the police spokesperson and not an investigator,” he said, adding: “If you ask me, I will say yes, some women were arrested, I don’t know their count charge.”

But why were they arrested? “Go to the prison and find out,” he interjected.

Some Nigerians and groups have criticised the police and called for the immediate release of the women.

Igbo Ekunie Initiative, a socio-cultural Igbo organisation, described it as “cowardly” and “primitive”.

“These innocent and unarmed women were within their rights under the Nigerian constitution, engaging in a peaceful demonstration and protest over the continued disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu,” the group had said on Wednesday.

Some have also taken to the social media to condemn the incident and warn against a clampdown on the fundamental rights of the women.

SEC confirms talks with MTN Group on $500m public offer

Editor April 25, 2018 Business Leave a comment

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday confirmed that MTN Group had finally commenced discussions with the commission on its proposed 500 million dollars Initial Public Offering (IPO).

A senior management staff of SEC, who pleaded anonymity, said in Lagos that MTN had commenced discussion with the commission on the IPO.

The source said that although talks were ongoing, the company was yet to formally file its application for the IPO.
He said the commission was committed to investors’ protection, and that their interest would be protected in the ongoing discussion.

The source said SEC would remain committed to the development of the nation’s capital market and listing of more multinationals.

Another source at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), who declined to be mentioned, also told NAN that the NSE had not yet received an official filing from the company.

There were reports recently that MTN Group Ltd. was perfecting plans to raise about $500 million from the sale of shares in its Nigerian business in the first half of 2018.

Standard Bank Group Ltd. and Citigroup Inc. had been advising MTN on the disposal of as much as 30 per cent of its Nigerian unit on the NSE.

MTN had agreed to list the Nigerian unit as part of June 2016 agreement to pay one billion dollars fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers amid a security crackdown.
NAN reports that MTN recently appointed a Nigerian investment firm, Chapel Hill Denham, as lead manager for the planned sale of $500 million shares in its Nigerian business during the first half of this year.

It also appointed South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank, Renaissance Capital and Vetiva Capital as joint issuers to the offer.
The telecoms firm also appointed seven placement agents that would help market the shares.

IPOB says Buhari’s second coming good for Biafra cause

Editor April 10, 2018 News Leave a comment

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has described the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari as a “welcome development”.

Buhari announced on Monday that he will be seeking re-election in office during the 2019 elections.

He said this is because of the “clamour” by Nigerians urging him to seek a second term.

In a statement on Tuesday, Emma Powerful, IPOB spokesman, said the president’s decision portends goodwill for its members.

“We have always maintained that the rebirth of Biafra will happen under Buhari or under whoever is answering to his name,” he said.

“This second coming of Buhari portends goodwill for freedom lovers because God Almighty wants to fulfill his divine purpose in the life of Biafrans in 2019 as foretold by our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”

Powerful said though IPOB “has lost a lot of people” in its quest for a sovereign state of Biafra, “no amount of tribulation will stop us from emerging victorious as a free people at the end of this process.

“We urge our brethren in the Middle Belt and Western Nigeria not to give up or capitulate in this our collective quest to free our people from the shackles of caliphate domination and creeping Islamisation.

“IPOB will not relent in its pursuit of total liberation. The continued existence of this disastrous APC government is our passport to freedom.”

Nnamdi Kanu, wife spotted in Ghana

Editor February 27, 2018 Latest, News Leave a comment

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been spotted by security agents in Ghana, according to a report by The Cable.

There has been controversy over the whereabouts of the IPOB leader who was last seen in public in September 2017 before the military launched Operation Python Dance II — apparently to quell the agitation for the breakaway of south-eastern Nigeria.

Since the military raided his home in Aba, Abia state, there has been speculation that he was arrested and might have been killed.

At some point, Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia state, said Kanu was in London.

His court trial for treason has stalled and Enyinnaya Abaribe, the senator who served as Kanu’s surety when he was granted bail after spending 18 months in detention, has sought to be dischargedfrom the obligation after his disappearance.

However, security sources have suggested that Kanu was ferried to the Niger Delta creeks by militants at the height of Python Dance II, from where he found his way to Ghana by sea.

He is regularly seen at Kenzo Bar and IBG saloon in Accra, disguised in face cap and usually in company with his wife, Uchechi.

Kanu is said to live at an area called Cantonment, also in Accra, at an estate called “Arabella”.

He regularly patronises suya joints in remote parts of the city, according to the sources.

If confirmed, this will lay to rest speculations on the fate of the IPOB leader.

His brother once asked the military to release his “dead body” if he had been killed.

Nnamdi Kanu’s wife speaks on husband’s ‘disappearance’, 2019 election

Editor February 19, 2018 News Leave a comment

Wife of the leader of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, says her husband’s disappearance should be the major issue that will dictate discourse as the nation goes to the poll next year.

Uchechi Kanu, speaking in an interview published by BBC on Monday, said the Nigerian government should account for her husband’s whereabouts, else, people will not vote.

“In the next coming election,” she said, “we need to have that in mind that for us to ever be better, we need to stand up.

“Yes, Nnamdi Kanu’s issue should be the number one thing: where is he? You need to provide him; at least tell us where he is. You need to at least do something before you run an election, otherwise we aren’t going to vote.”

Mr. Kanu is wanted by the Nigerian government for alleged treason. He has not been seen in public since September 2017 when the army raised his residence in Abia state.

The army denies knowing his whereabouts.

Mrs. Kanu maintained that the Nigerian Army should tell the world what happened to her husband, saying nobody in his family knows whether he was dead or alive.

When asked how life has been since her husband’s “disappearance”, she became emotional, describing the experience as difficult.

“It is difficult,” she said about raising their child without her husband, adding that the child sometimes says things that break her heart.

“He goes sometime… he says ‘Daddy’, and that kills me more, because I don’t know what to say to him,” she said.

She, however, dismissed the notion that her husband’s action was illegal, saying Mr. Kanu acted within the ambit of the law.

She said, “What makes it illegal? Why? Why should that be treasonous? One asking for self-determination; how’s that a crime? It is not a crime.”

On insinuations that Mr. Kanu kept his family in the safety of Britain and expected other people to die for a cause he could not bring his family in to fight for, Mrs. Kanu said such statements were insensitive, adding that the family has been the worst hit since he disappeared.

“Do they even know what I go through? I can’t even explain,” she said, adding that Mr. Kanu’s immediate family is homeless and suffering too.

“Is that not sacrifice?” she said, adding that such insinuation could only be made by those she called “Typical stupid African person”.

APC will forget state police after election – IPOB

Editor February 18, 2018 Latest, Politics Leave a comment

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to deceive Nigerians ahead of the 2019 general election.

In a statement on Sunday, IPOB described the party’s proposition of state police in the country as an “election gimmick”.

A restructuring committee set up by the APC had, among other things, recommended that Nigeria should employ the use of state police.

Although the federal government is yet to adopt the recommendation, IPOB said the party is only trying to buy time with such move.

In the statement sent to media outlets , Emma Powerful, IPOB spokesman, said the idea of state police would be forgotten after the election, just like the “APC did with (its promise of) restructuring”.

“Even the most unintelligent person knows that this state police proposal is a key component, if not the central plank, of the report on restructuring by the APC committee appointed by the presidency,” the statement read.

“It is a calculated fraud designed to buy time and confuse the gullible. It is merely an election gimmick calculated to deflect attention and convey the impression that this is a listening government which is a lie.

“This APC regime promised restructuring before they were elected into power, today they are ardent opponents of restructuring. With this state police gimmick, once you elect them back in 2019 they will become critics of state police. Only the gullible and unintelligent will be taken in by this charade.”

Powerful said had the current administration been sincere about its intentions, “it would have implemented the proposal (of restructuring) immediately rather than merely issuing it as a report to be debated upon”.

He, however, added that IPOB is not interested in “whatever structural reforms” the federal government wishes to undertake “because the key tenet of democracy which is public debate and vote on a crucial matter is conspicuously lacking in their approach and proposal for state police”.

“Our primary interest remains the full restoration of the full sovereignty of the nation of Biafra and nothing more,” he said, adding: “Anything short of a referendum to ascertain the wishes of the people is dead on arrival for us.

“We are democrats by genetic disposition, which means that our belief that power resides with the people is sacrosanct.”

Soldiers chased weapon-laden truck into Kanu’s home, says Buratai

Editor November 17, 2017 Latest, News Leave a comment

Soldiers chased a truck laden with weapons into a compound said to belong to the father of fugitive leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnandi Kanu, Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai has said.

Gen. Buratai said owners of the truck detonated the explosives on the day Kanu was last seen in public.

He said the suspects’ intention was to frustrate the move to arrest them by the troops

Gen, Buratai stated these in a counter-affidavit he filed in reaction to a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja in Kanu’s name by his lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor.

The suit seeks, among others, an order to compel Gen. Buratai, listed as defendant, to produce the IPOB leader, who the plaintiff claimed was in the custody of the military.

IPOB claimed, in the suit filed shortly after Kanu went missing, that the soldiers, who allegedly invaded his father’s house on September 14, took him away.

But, in the counter-affidavit deposed to on his behalf by Col. A.A Yusuf, attached to the COAS’s office at the Army Headquarters, Abuja, Gen. Buratai denied the plaintiff’s claim. He said the soldiers had no contact with Kanu

He said: during “a peaceful movement” which was part of the “Operation Python Dance II” on September 14, some soldiers saw a truck and flagged it down, but the truck and its occupants ran over Army’s barricade and defied soldiers’ order stopping them to be searched.

He said the soldiers pursued the fleeing truck, loaded with arms and ammunition, into a compound.

Buratai said the compound turned out to be the one Kanu later claimed, in the suit, to belong to him and his father.

He said soldiers, who pursued the truck into Kanu’s father’s house, did not fire any shot but that the occupants of the fleeing truck deliberately ignited the ammunition in the truck.

“It was the legitimate attempt by the officers and men of the Nigerian Army to arrest the fleeing occupants of the truck and impound the truck that precipitated the deliberate igniting of the ammunition in the truck by persons now believed to be IPOB members.

“The act of the IPOB members resulted in sporadic explosions within the said applicant’s compound.

“The applicant (Kanu) is not and has neither being in our custody nor in the custody of any person, officer or institution receiving instruction directly or indirectly from him.

“The applicant was not at any time whatsoever arrested, taken into custody or detained by the Officers and men of the Nigerian Army.

“The officers and men of the Nigerian Army did not have any contact whatsoever or confrontation or any operational engagement with the applicant on September 12 or 14, 20l7 or any other date thereafter, contrary to the allegations in the affidavit in support of the application.

“The allegation of invasion of the South-Eastern part of Nigeria by officers and men of the Nigerian Army, especially the applicant’s home and or residence is totally false,” the COAS said.

He added that his men, acting in compliance with “approved Rules of Engagement and Code of Conduct which prohibit any form of human right abuses” did not kill scores of people during the military operation in the South East as alleged in the suit.

“The allegations of firing of live bullets on the applicant’s relatives, killing of scores of persons, wounding and arrest of many, attack and invasion of applicant’s home, barricade at Isialangwa, arrest and torture of civilians by officers and me of the Nigerian Army, as stated by the deponent, are a figment of his imagination as same are not true,” he said.

The case is expected to come up today for hearing before Justice Binta Nyako.

Army arrests IPOB members with anti Anambra election flyers

Editor November 13, 2017 Politics Leave a comment

Army personnel attached to 144 Battalion under 14 Brigade, Ohafia, Abia State have reportedly arrested three members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB ) in Aba, the commercial nerve of the State.

The suspects whose names were Mr. Nwagbougwu Okeke, aged 55yrs, Mr. Chidiebere Nwaoha, aged 35yrs and Mr. John Nwaogazi, aged 50yrs were said to have been arrested by the soldiers on patrol in Aba on Sunday.

Sources within the battalion told our reporter that the IPOB members were arrested Sunday morning around Alaoji Fly Over.

The suspects according to a source said that they were caught distributing flyers and posters with caption “No Election In Anambra State”.

The source said that the suspects and flyers have been handed over to the Department of State Security for continued investigation.

A senior officer at the battalion who craved anonymity said that the 14 Brigade would continue to work in synergy with the police and other sister agencies to flush out criminality and anti social activities within the State.

The officer urged members of the public to inform the army and other security agencies of the activities of criminals and hoodlums in their locality, stressing that they would make criminality unprofitable in the state.

IPOB asks Buhari to stay away from south-east

Editor November 13, 2017 Latest, News Leave a comment

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to stay away from Biafraland, else there will be bloodshed.

Buhari is scheduled to visit Ebonyi state on Tuesday, and Anambra the day after.

In a statement sent to TheCable on Monday, Emma Powerful, IPOB spokesman, said: “we (IPOB members) will die with him should he set his foot on the sacred land of Biafra”.

“Tuesday 14th November 2017 will be recorded in history as a very bloody day should that Jubril masquerading as Buhari attempt to land on Biafran soil,” the statement read.

“He is coming to mock us and to urinate on the graves of our 91 brethren his Operation Python Dance killed in Abia State. He is coming to show us that power belongs to the north and people like Nnia Nwodo and Dave Umahi are in charge over their conquered territory and defeated people of Biafra. He has come to tell us we are forever slaves.”

When visited the presidential villa in Abuja last week, he told state house correspondents that the people of the state are “fully prepared” to receive the president.

He said Buhari would commission some projects carried out by his administration during the visit, including roads and flyovers.

The governor had said: “There are quite a lot of projects that we have executed within these past two and the half years. We have three numbers of twin flyovers that are built across the African Tran Sahara Road running from Enugu to Cameroon passing through Ebonyi state, so we have to build three twin flyovers to decongest traffic on that road, each of the twin flyovers is 700-metre length.

“We have completed two and the third one is 80 percent done, Mr President will commission the two. We also have a mall, what we call Ebonyi mall that is modelled after the famous Dubai mall.

“And we intend for the president to lay a foundation stone of that mall which we will like Mr President to commission within the next 12 months.”

FG will produce my client in court today, says Kanu’s lawyer

Editor October 16, 2017 News Leave a comment

Ifeanyi Ejiofor, counsel of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), says he is convinced that the government will produce his client in court on Tuesday.

The IPOB leader, who is facing treason trial, is due to appear at a federal high court in Abuja on Tuesday.

He is being tried alongside three others: David Nwawuisi, Benjamin Madubugwu and Chidiebere Onwudiwe.

Since soldiers raided his Afara-ukwu residence in Umuahia, Abia state, on September 14, Kanu’s whereabouts have been a mystery.

There has been a rumour that the IPOB leader has left the country for the UK – a speculation to which Orji Kalu, former Abia state governor, gave credence.

Kanu’s lawyer had filed an application at a federal high court in Abuja, asking it to order the army to disclose his whereabouts.

But the army denied having him in custody.

Speaking with TheCable on Monday, Ejiofor said he believed the government, which is allegedly holding Kanu, would bring him to court to face his trial on Tuesday.

“We have filed a suit at the court asking the federal government to produce him in court,” he said.

“It is obvious they will bring him to court tomorrow. They are holding him. They know where he is. I am fully convinced they will bring him to court.”

IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, missing on eve of treason trial

Editor October 16, 2017 Latest, News Leave a comment

The leader of a pro-Biafran separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, has apparently gone missing, prompting speculation as to his whereabouts on the eve of his trial on treason charges.

Nnamdi Kanu has not been seen in public since troops were deployed to Umuahia, Abia State last month.

Kanu, who wants a separate state for the Igbo people who dominated the country’s southeast, has been on bail since April.

He is scheduled to appear in court in Abuja on Tuesday.

His lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, told AFP: “Only the army can tell us where he is. Either they arrested him or they killed him.

“If he is alive, they should bring him to the court on Tuesday.”

Justice ministry spokesman Salihu Othman Isah said whether the trial goes ahead depends on Kanu’s appearance and the judge.

“I can’t tell you specifically what will happen,” he added.

Kanu’s disappearance has prompted renewed fears of violence in the restive southeast, which remains tense 50 years after a declaration of independence sparked a brutal civil war.

He was first arrested in October 2015 and held in custody until April this year, despite repeated court rulings that he should be released.

In Umuahia, which was once the capital of the self-styled republic of Biafra and where Kanu spent his childhood, the windows of the family home have been blown out.

The ochre walls and the cars parked in front of the building are pitted with bullet holes, according to an AFP correspondent in the city.

Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, maintains he was at the compound when soldiers attacked it on September 14.

He said 28 people were killed but the army has denied the claim. Neither claim has been verified independently.

“They were so numerous. They started to shoot from 200 metres (650 feet) away,” Prince Emmanuel told AFP by telephone. “People were running for their lives. We had no guns with us.”

Prince Emmanuel said the military was holding his brother in secret. The government has dismissed the claim and said he was “hiding” somewhere.

Nigeria officially declared IPOB a “terrorist organisation” in mid-September after violent clashes between the security forces and IPOB supporters.

Members of the group were accused of attacking military checkpoints in Umuahia, which is the capital of Abia state, and the state’s commercial hub, Aba.

There was also violence in Port Harcourt, which is the capital of the neighbouring state of Rivers and Nigeria’s main oil hub.

Officially, the military said the troop deployment was part of its Operation Python Dance against crime in the region. IPOB said it was designed to curb its activities.

Human rights organisations and analysts believe the authorities’ response has exacerbated tensions in a region where separatist sentiment has never really disappeared.

Many in the southeast say the region’s lack of basic infrastructure and extreme poverty is a “punishment” for what happened in 1967.

The charismatic Kanu, who is in his 50s, knew how to exploit those frustrations. He revived Radio Biafra and used to broadcast calls for independence from his home in London.

Those calls increased after his arrest and sparked repeated demonstrations. Even after his release on bail, he rarely passed up a chance to whip up his crowds of supporters.

Kanu wants a referendum on self-determination and has called for a boycott all forthcoming elections.

Security consultant Don Okereke believes the army overstepped the mark by conducting law enforcement operations in the southeast that were normally the remit of the police.

“(The) Python Dance exercise is an aberration. There’s a high sentiment of distrust,” he said.

The federal government in Abuja has meanwhile opened itself up to the charge of “double standards” with the Biafra question, he added.

On the one hand it is prepared to negotiate with Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast and militants in the Niger delta in the south but not IPOB, Okereke added.

That was a high-risk strategy, he said, adding: “If anything happens to him (Kanu), the reactions are likely to be very violent in the southeast.”

In 2009, a military crackdown on Boko Haram led to the death in custody of its leader, Muhammad Yusuf.

For now, rumours abound about Kanu’s whereabouts. The British mission in Abuja has denied one claim from a former Abia state governor that Kanu was back in London.

President’s absence emboldened Nnamdi Kanu – Aisha Buhari

Editor October 9, 2017 Latest, News Leave a comment

The wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, on Monday said the long absence of President Muhammadu Buhari due to ill-health further emboldened the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Though she did not mention Kanu’s name specifically, Mrs. Buhari said a 40-year-old seized the opportunity of her husband’s absence to create a state within a state.

She spoke at the opening of a two-day stakeholders meeting on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.

“Going back to the same health issue in Nigeria, as a result of spending several months by the President outside Nigeria, a 40-year-old man who was still living in his father’s house, created a state out of a state and that is a major set back for the country and the health sector did not benefit,” she said.

Page 1 of 512 3 4 5 »

The News Matrics …Online News Portal