IPOB Calls On Businesses In The Southwest To Close In Support Of Nnamdi Kanu 

The outlawed separatist organization is seeking support from those living on both sides of the Niger and Benue rivers.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

IPOB has asked the southwest and middle belt areas to join it in a month-long sit-in if Nnamdi Kanu is not presented in court on his next trial date on October 21.

Kanu, the head of the IPOB, was re-arrested in June and is still in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Following his detention, he appeared briefly in court in Abuja.

Kanu’s trial was delayed to October 21 by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 26 after the federal government prosecution team failed to present him in court.

In a statement, IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful says:  “following our earlier declaration of one month lockdown of Biafra land should the Nigeria government fail to bring our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to the court on October 21;

“We, the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), request our brothers and sisters in Oduduwa Republic and Middle Belt including Igbo and Biafra businessmen and women, traders, who are doing business outside Biafra land to shut down his or her business for us to demonstrate our resolve for the emergence of our new nation Biafra and support for our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and others who are facing similar fate with us to join us in sympathy protest.

“We advise all oppressed people in Nigeria to be prepared for the one month sit-at-home if the federal government of Nigeria and the Department of State Services fail to produce Nnamdi Kanu in court on the next court adjourned date.

“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a freedom fighter demanding justice for the oppressed Indigenous people in Nigeria. He committed no crime to deserve his continued detention without trial.”

Kanu is facing treason and terrorism charges. He was arrested in 2015 and fled the country in the middle of his trial after his father’s home was allegedly invaded by soldiers in 2017.