Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has offered free legal advice to Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking during a broadcast on Radio Biafra, Kanu said Atiku’s defence in court regarding his citizenship is “weak and porous”.

The PDP candidate had gone to court to challenge the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.

But the APC in its defence, told the court Atiku is not a Nigerian by birth and as such, is not qualified to contest the election.

The issue of Atiku’s citizenship was first raised by Kanu in the build up to the 2019 elections.

In his latest broadcast, Kanu said he merely used the issue of “Atiku’s citizenship of Nigeria, via a referendum”, to buttress his point about the need for a referendum on Biafra.

“When I first raised this issue, which incidentally has been ignored by all arms of government including INEC whose duty it is to ensure that candidates meet all stipulated constitutional requirements, it was not to insinuate or imply that Atiku is not a Nigerian, but rather to highlight the very constitutionally critical point at the heart of IPOB agitation for Biafra independence; which is that asking for a referendum is never a crime in any law known to man,” he said.

“However, the weak and porous argument Atiku’s defence team is making in response to this line of attack by APC is to say that, ‘it is ludicrous to allege that a man who became Nigeria’s vice-president, who has lived, invested and paid tax in the country for years is not a citizen.

“This is a wholly unnecessary digression that failed to address the constitutional question of place of birth as key qualification for anybody seeking to become the president of Nigeria. That Atiku was the Vice President is not the issue at hand but rather his suitability as defined by the constitution of Nigeria.”

He said APC putting up the argument in court is a “vindication that everything I say on Radio Biafra is the truth.”

“It may appear outlandish and unbelievable at first, but eventually history always vindicate me. It is now over the Atiku’s team to unleash what they have against Jubril,” he said.

“I will offer free legal advice to Atiku live on air in the hope that they will use it because it is obvious Atiku won the election and APC are deploying all instruments of coercion at the disposal of the Nigerian state to deny him his mandate. Between Atiku and the man occupying Aso Rock, only Atiku is a Nigerian, the other is Sudanese.”

The Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has condemned the alleged killing of over 1,000 Shiites by in both Abuja and Kaduna State by security agents, saying that the action was unconscionable.

Kanu spoke during a radio broadcast on Radio Biafra, from Jerusalem, weekend. Nnamdi Kanu He also, gave reasons why he ran away from Nigeria, saying that he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.

According to him, “Prophet Muhammed ran away and came back to conquer everywhere. Jesus did same and came out victorious. Nnamdi Azikiwe ran to Ghana; Nelson Mandela ran to Nigeria. Those of them saying I ran away when they came to kill me, are people who want me dead because, they know I’m their headache.”

He further said that Africans, nay Nigerians were too backward to realize the implications of denying people their right to protest against injustices, hence the people allowed the killing of innocent protesters, reportedly, by soldiers in Abuja without rendering help or solution to those being allegedly massacred.

“The most backward continent in the world is Africa because, we are very wicked. There is no collective consciousness… That is why a scavenging illiterate like … killed over 1,000 Shiites, for protesting.

“The heart of the black man is evil. We complain of racism, but kill ourselves. Yesterday, protesters in America blocked the most powerful man in the whole world, Donald Trump and he took another road. “But the only thing Nigerians did in Abuja (while the Shiites were being killed), is to ask people to avoid the very road, where people are massacred, instead of rendering a solution.

“Black people have problems because, we are not educated enough, discerning enough and don’t reason well. The suffering of other people, doesn’t affect Africans, that is why we suffer. “People don’t speak against evil in Nigeria. Nobody remembers the genocide committed in Africa, that is why we are backwards. There is something wrong with Africans, it’s because we don’t have empathy.”

Kanu, however, said that, “IPOB has collective consciousness. An instance is Aba. If something happens at Aba, everyone will analyse and decide if it’s good or bad,” and decide what should be done. Everybody Welcome to biafra He welcomed everyone including Nigerians, Biafrans, IPOB members, friends of Biafra as well as lovers of freedom and enemies of Biafra to his live broadcast. Kanu said, “it Is my job to spread this very Biafra message and I must do it…,” as he prayed, pointing out that he said same prayers while languishing in the Department of State Services, DSS, facilities as well as the prisons in Nigeria.

The IPOB leader described himself as a prayer warrior, stressing that he prayed seven a day apart from praying with his family, when he was opportune to speak to his family on phone. Apparently referring to President Muhammadu Buhari, he further said that he would be “unveiling” the person (Jubril) now occupying the presidential villa, Aso Rock, even as he acknowledged that the task of doing so was a collective effort.

“By the time I start exposing him, most of you might find it difficult to understand the complexity of that very Jubril in Aso Rock. Tonight we are going to start with a preamble.

IPOB BOYCOTT OF 2019 ELECTIONS

“I wish to appeal to every suffering person, you must ignore the established propaganda and join IPOB to boycott Nigeria elections. If you are tired of the massacre and pains in Nigeria, you must boycott elections. Those of you who want restructuring, employment, then you must boycott elections. But Biafra will be different. I am not stopping you from joining us, in the Biafra quest. I want my people to be free. Nigeria is unsalvageable.

“Nigeria is unsalvageable. The only thing holding us together, is oil and gas. Sometimes I pray, that the oil should go dry, so we can be free. In Nigeria you have journalists, that sit by the side, without possessing the conscience to write against evils carried out there. That is why, I call Nigeria a zoo.

“The level of wickedness in Nigeria, is too much. There is something wrong, with the brain of a black person and until we change it, then we shall continue to suffer. Are you aware that, only Africa is remains undeveloped? By this time in 2014, there were chanting and demanding that Jonathan should go out.

“You know if I hit the All Progressives Congress, APC, hard, they say the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is sponsoring us and vice versa. “There is a cabal running the zoo. El-rufia etc are the ones that brought that thing called Jubril, in Aso Rock. That (Jubril) in Aso Rock cannot speak Fulfude because, he is not Fulani.

“Look at his fingers and ears, then you know he is an impostor. He is not more than 50years, but an impostor. Buhari is bald, but this current Jubril in Aso Rock has hairs… That uncertificated man in Aso Rock, must be exposed I’m here, to save you from your ignorance… I must preach this very gospel.

“Biafra activists arrested during Donald Trump rally (in Port Harcourt), are still in detention because, the magistrates are afraid. I am here to preach this very gospel. Only South Africa is good because, White people… are not demanding for their own country. Biafra is going to be a confederation. The greatest asset you have, is your brain.

“When Biafra comes, we will pipe free oil to West Africa because, they are so poor. May the good Lord, have mercy on black Africans. Peter Obi is now trying to be Vice President; vote for him, when late Dr. Alex Ekwueme was there, what did he do? What is Yemi Osibanjo doing for Yoruba people now?

“Don’t vote and demand for what you need. It is called doctrine of necessity. Throw that useless thing put together by Abdusalami Abubakar and called it, constitution…If Biafra is going to be as wicked as Nigeria, where the government keeps mute over evil, let there be no Biafra. “How can you give us a certificate in 2014 that has Mathematics and in 2018, there is none. Everyone in WAEC Office including INEC, should be jailed. Journalists keep mute in the face of Injustices.

“Though not all of them are bad, there are good ones. Just like late Dele Giwa. Nigeria is dead and as they brought out that fraudulent certificate. We will chase them until the zoo falls. The Zoo is in trouble. I will give them enough trouble. I will unmask that thing called Jubril, on live television with experts. By the time I finish with them, no Fulani Man will ever be the President of Nigeria.

“They know it, that is why they want to kill me, but they can’t because God is with me. Experts from America are coming, to join me in this very exposure of Jubril. Buhari is Fulani’s hit Man, who came out to complete Utsman Dan Fodio’s quest. No matter your ethnicity, you must come out and partake on this revolution. Some of you, are very hungry. During Election they give you #1000 and you vote. “Only one police check point, will take it from you. They demand for break light, bulb light until you spend the #1000. Biafra is Light.

“IPOB knows their Leader Nnamdi Kanu, is resolute, that is why they can’t fall out. I want every man of good conscience, to keep money aside and face the truth. We are special people. IPOB is special. Freedom of religion will be sacrosanct in Biafra. Rogues Soldiers are not designed, to be deployed in the street. I live in Europe. How many tines have you seen a British soldier in the streets of Britain? But in Nigeria where you have professors, you keep mute over the massacres of humans and claim to be educated. Whoever did this to us…? They try to deceive us with the adage that,

“What an old Man sees sitting down, a child cannot see it while standing.” “I don’t need to stand up, to see poverty. Do you know that after Abacha killed Ken Saro Wiwa, Bayelsa named a street by Abacha’s name? Its just like naming a street in Israel after Hitler and you know its not possible. It is only in Nigeria, where people name streets with the names of people, who killed them.

WHY I RAN AWAY FROM NIGERIA

“Prophet Muhammed ran away and came back to conquer everywhere. Jesus did same and came out victorious. Nnamdi Azikiwe ran to Ghana; Nelson Mandela ran to Nigeria. Those of them saying I ran away when they came to kill me, are people who want me dead because, they know I’m their headache. If Britain doesn’t let Biafra go, Britain will be decimated by the Almighty.

“What is happening to Britain, is because they don’t allow Biafra to go. Britain must let Biafra go or they will be broken into pieces. Any Nation that rises against Biafra, must die. In Biafra everybody will be welcomed, to worship anything he wishes to, even if cockroach.

“There will be freedom of worship, in Biafra. Have you asked why, only Jewish men are ready to die for Biafrans. Apart from Yaweshua, Bruce Mayrock a Jewish Man, died for Biafra, by setting himself ablaze. Eleven Jewish children burnt themselves in Paris for Biafra. Biafra will be sacrificed to Elohim. Our temple in Arochukwu will be rebuilt, for your information. I have nothing against anybody, but if you hate me, I will do so.

We must go back to Nsude, to see the pyramid our ancestors built when they came out of Egypt and Aguleri and off course Arochukwu. I shall reconvene next week on the 10th Of October 2018, to preach this very gospel.”

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.”

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), says he was granted conditional bail to be “caged” along with the secessionist group.

Kanu, who is facing trial for alleged treason, was granted bail in April 2017 by a federal high court sitting in Abuja.

He, however, skipped bail after flouting all the conditions given to him by the court, including a ban on public speaking.

The IPOB leader subsequently went into hiding only to reappear in Israel about two weeks ago.

Speaking during a broadcast on Radio Biafra, Kanu insisted that the solution to the Biafra agitation will be conducting a referendum.

“Their problem is Nnamdi Kanu and the solution to their problem is referendum. They gave me conditional bail to cage me and IPOB but I refused,” he was quoted as saying in a statement by Emma Powerful, IPOB spokesman.

“We are not going to vote because we’re too intelligent for that nonsense. I am not interested in the politics of Biafrans, all I want for my people is freedom.”

Kanu said the Igbo have been voting for years, adding that “absolutely nothing” has come out of it.

“It is either Biafra or we die trying to get Biafra,” he said.

IPOB was banned and proscribed during a military raid in Umuahia, Abia state, which came on the heel of a dialogue between Kanu and south-east leaders.

Kanu blamed the region’s leaders for the travails of IPOB.

“It was Ohaneze Ndigbo and south-east governors that stopped federal government dialogue with IPOB. For that, the ban on Ohaneze Ndigbo stands still tomorrow,” Powerful quoted him as saying.

“Anywhere or anytime Ohaneze Ndigbo gathers for anything in Biafra land, it should be disrupted. Being an IPOB is a very unique privilege.”

The British government has informed the Federal Government of plans to issue travel document to the the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

A top government official disclosed this to reporters on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday.

Kanu is a dual citizen of Nigeria and Britain.

The source said in informing the Federal Government of their intention, the British authorities made it clear that they have the best intentions towards Nigeria.

“The British authorities have briefed the Nigerian government about the temporary travel documents they are about to issue to Nnamdi Kanu, who holds a Nigeria-UK dual citizenship.

“It shows that they have the best intentions towards the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the source said.

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.”

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.

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”.

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu became legally a fugitive as he was conspicuously absent in court when his trial resumed in Abuja today.

Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who earlier gave the secessionist campaigner bail has fixed November.20 for his sureties to produce him.

One of the sureties is Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe. Others are Immanuel Madu and Torchokwu Uchendu.

Nyako gave the order on Tuesday when Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor, counsel to Kanu, told the court he could not explain the whereabouts of his client.

Kanu, whose bail was perfected by the voluntary endorsement of the three sureties failed to appear in court to stand his trial.

Nyako said the sureties’ failure to produce Kanu would compel the court to invoke the forfeiture of their N100 million bail bond each.

“The trial of Kanu and his co-defendants was fixed for October 17, but reports from both the prosecuting and defendant’s counsel show that Kanu is absent.

“The sureties that helped to perfect his bail conditions are solely accountable for his presence for trial. These sureties are therefore, given time to produce him for trial.

“In the event that they are unable to produce him, the court shall go on to invoke the remaining options left to it,’’ she said.

Earlier, Mr Mohammed Labaran, the prosecuting counsel had moved an application praying the court to grant a bench warrant for Kanu’s arrest.

He said the defendant had flouted all the bail conditions spelt out for him by the court.

The counsel to Kanu, Ejiofor objected to such application, adding that he had filed a suit against the Chief of Army Staff on the whereabouts of Kanu.

Ejiofor had claimed that the military’s invasion of his client’s home on July 11 led to his disappearance, adding that the military was in the best position to disclose the whereabouts of Kanu.

Similarly, Mr Ogechi Ogbonna, counsel to Abaribe moved a motion seeking court’s approval for the withdrawal of his client’s consent as Kanu’s surety.

Ogbonna said his client was not in a position to tell the whereabouts of the defendant at the moment.

He further said Abaribe was no longer interested in offering his consent to serve as Kanu’s surety in view of recent happenings.

The judge, therefore, gave Ogbonna options ranging from automatic forfeiture of his client’s N100 million bail bond to being given time within which to search for Kanu.

Ogbonna, having received the hint of the court, selected the latter option.

Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi are standing trial along with Kanu on  a five-count charge of conspiracy to commit treasonable felony and publication of defamatory materials.

Will Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) be in court today for his trial?

Nobody could give the answer to this question last night.

Kanu has not been seen since September 24 when some security agents entered his Afaraukwu, Umuahia home.

He is facing treason charges along with some members of his group.

Only Kanu was granted bail on health grounds with Senator Enyinaya Abaribe as one of his sureties.

Kanu’s 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 (today).”

Justice ministry spokesman Salihu Othman Isah said whether the trial would go ahead would depend on Kanu’s appearance and the judge.

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

Kanu was first arrested in October 2015 and held in custody until April.

While Kanu’s brother Emmanuel, claims he was taken away by troops, the military has said its men did not arrest Kanu.

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

But a former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, said in an interview that Kanu has eloped to the United Kingdom through Malaysia.

That comment attracted criticism from IPOB and its sympathizers.

The federal government declared IPOB a “terrorist organisation” after clashes between the security forces and IPOB supporters.

Members of the group were accused of attacking military checkpoints in Umuahia.

There was also violence on Aba Road in Port Harcourt, and in Aba where a police post was burnt and a policeman killed by suspected IPOB members.

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.”

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu said yesterday he is unaware of the whereabouts of leader of Indigenous People of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu.

Kanu is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow for his case but he has not been seen since September 24 when military men entered his compound. In Afaraukwu, Umuahia.

Members of his outlawed organization are claiming that the military too him away a claim that has been denied.

Foremr Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, said he was reliably told that Kanu had eloped to London through Malaysia.

Speaking to reporters in Abuja at the weekend, Ikpeazu said: “I don’t think that is a fair question. I don’t have the capacity to determine where Kanu is. I have never visited him. I have never called him on phone and he has never taken me into confidence as to what he does, where he goes. So, those who are close to him would answer. I don’t have capacity to monitor him to know where he is, maybe journalists, through investigative journalism will know.

He expressed concerns that some sections in the country cannot trust the Igbo in the South East to occupy certain strategic positions in the country.

According to him, this feeling of distrust was unfounded, stressing that the Igbo have sufficiently demonstrated love and faith in the corporate existence of Nigeria more than any other ethnic group.

Tracing the roots of the pervasive misgivings towards the South East to the civil war experiences, Ikpeazu said the Igbo have since put the nasty experiences behind them by registering their presence in every part of the country.

“The post war experience is that everybody started receding and then we started moving everywhere. Then at the end of the day, our people are beginning to feel that we are not being trusted enough with certain strategic positions despite the fact that we have demonstrated in particular times that we love Nigeria more than anybody, we have faith in this country more than anybody,” the governor said.

Ikpeazu said the agitations are mainly fueled by inequalities and feelings of unfair treatments.

The governor said, “Fundamentally speaking, I think that if the questions we ask in this country today are whether there are inequalities, there are gaps, there are people who don’t feel that they have been fairly treated, either as an individual or as a family or as a geopolitical zone, the answer is yes.

“There is agitation in the North East, there is a agitation in the South West and of course there is agitation in the South South. But I dare say that there is no other ethnic group in this country that has as much faith in Nigeria as a country, one united country than the people of the South East.

“That is why they are in Sambisa. You can count how many big businesses belonging to the South Westerners that are in Aba. You can count how many big businesses belonging to the people from the North East, North West, North Central that you can find in Owerri. You cannot find a four storey building belonging to somebody from the North East anywhere in the South East.

“But if you go to Kano, you don’t count three hotels before you count that of somebody from the South East. What it means is that we are the people that have demonstrated faith in a united Nigeria”.

He traced the creation of IPOB to bottled up discontents among a section of the youths in the Southeast.

Ikpeazu revealed that Igbo political and cultural leaders had to intervene at this point and that they engaged Kanu through the Ohanaeze and the South East governors.

This, according to him, was for the purposes of exploring alternative approach to the agitation through intellectual presentations with the view to confronting the Federal Government with sound arguments.“

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.

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.