Following the declaration the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist group by the Nigerian military, the organisation’s founder, Nnamdi Kanu, and top leaders of his group appear to have gone into hiding following their sudden disappearance from Kanu’s country home in Afaraukwu and other usually frequented places.
Reports suggest that Kanu and others were advised to go underground after the declaration and the organisation’s open rejection by Governors in the South East.
According to The Punch, an IPOB member said, “We have to apply wisdom to whatever we are doing. We have realised that there is a grand conspiracy against Kanu and other top leaders of our group.
“Just imagine barely few hours after the Nigerian military declared members of IPOB and other pro-Biafran groups as terrorists, our own governors came up with their own outright ban of our activities.
“This definitely will give the soldiers and other security agencies the opportunity to arrest our leader and mount a deadly clampdown on all IPOB members. So, it is better to operate from a hideout for now.”
The newspaper also reports that Kanu’s younger brother has refused to give him away, saying “Only my brother can tell Nigerians where he is, I can’t. I don’t know why the Army should call IPOB a terrorist organisation, it is out of their desperation to arrest Nnamdi and frustrate the Biafran struggle. We have petitioned the United Nations and the European Union. The world knows that IPOB is a non-violent organisation, we don’t carry arms, we don’t kill, and we believe violence can never solve any problem.
“Nnamdi will soon disclose his current location and IPOB will also react to the proscription of the group by the South-East governors’ forum.”
Although Kanu’s pending case in court comes up later in October, security agencies including the Nigerian Police, the DSS and the military have the order to arrest Kanu on sight and the search for him is on.
