Biafrans device new means to campaign for Kanu's release
Pro-Biafrans come up with above new campaign in Port-harcourt, Rivers State to agitate for Nnamdi Kanu's release.
Other tags such as #Biafra and #FreeNnamdiKanu can also be found.
The renewed agitation for the actuation of the
republic of Biafra led to the shooting of unarmed pro-Biafran protesters
in Aba, Abia State on 9 February this year.
Recall that over two million lives were lost
during the Nigeria civil war between 1967 to 1970 on the demand for a
Biafran state.
Members of Nigeria’s intelligence agency, the
State Security Service (DSS), arrested Kanu—the leader of the Indigenous
People of Biafra (IPOB)—in October 2015 on charges including sedition
and ethnic incitement.
The Nigerian government has previously tried to
shut down Radio Biafra, an underground media outlet of which Kanu is
director and which refers to Nigeria as a zoo and denigrates Nigerian
President Muhammadu Buhari in its broadcasts.
Kanu’s arrest has prompted thousands of people
to demonstrate across southeast Nigeria, demanding the activist’s
release and calling for independence for Biafra, which existed as a
republic in southeast Nigeria between 1967 and 1970.
Kanu, who is in his 40s, has been described by
IPOB members as “a legend in the making,” according to IBTimes U.K., and
he has previously said that Biafra would be established “no matter what
happens,” though the group has denied that their leader endorses
violence.
Kanu’s trial is due to begin in the Nigerian
capital Abuja on Tuesday on the back of a controversial period of
detention. A federal high court in Abuja ruled in December that Kanu
should be granted unconditional bail and released immediately, only for
the Nigerian government to file new charges against Kanu, including
treason. A Nigerian court ruled on January 29 that Kanu should be denied
bail but transferred him from DSS custody to Kuje Prison in Abuja.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected
calls for Kanu to be released, describing the activist—who is based in
the U.K. but frequently returns to Nigeria—as a flight risk. In his
maiden presidential media chat on December 30, 2015, Buhari claimed that
Kanu entered Nigeria without using a passport and had brought in
broadcasting equipment to propagate Radio Biafra’s secessionist message
in the country. “There is a treasonable felony against him and I hope
the courts will listen to the case,” Buhari said.
Despite his ongoing detention, Kanu remains firm
in his convictions. “Mr. Kanu is a very resilient gentleman. He is very
fortified by what is happening and the fact that he believes in what he
is fighting for, which is the restoration of Biafra,” says Nnorom.
The issue of Biafran independence is gaining
traction outside of Nigeria. A group of Dutch lawyers filed a case
against Buhari at the International Criminal Court in the Hague in
January, demanding that the Nigerian president be investigated for
allegedly overseeing the deaths of Biafran protesters at the hands of
Nigerian security forces.
More than 20 protesters and two police officers
have been killed in pro-Biafra protests since October 2015, AP reported,
though Biafran activists claim the figure is much higher.
The matter was also raised with the British
Foreign and Commonwealth Office by Labour MP Harriet Harman. Kanu, a
dual British-Nigerian citizen, resides in Harman’s constituency of
Camberwell & Peckham.