Statements from individuals, cultural and social economic groups in Nigeria appear to be strengthening and escalating separatist movements across the country. Some of these prominent persons and groups have criticized the government for pursuing these people rather than focusing on more pressing issues in the country.
Among such people is Nigeria’s Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, who said he is ready to stand as surety again for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, given the same circumstances.
Speaking on Kanu’s re-arrest when he featured on Journalist Hangout, a programme on Television Continental (TVC), recently Abaribe explained that he stood as a surety for the IPOB leader because he is from the south-east and saw it as his responsibility.
The senator said the IPOB leader did not jump bail but fled for his life. “there is a difference between jumping bail and escaping for your life. I think we have to make that very clear,” Abaribe said.
Also, the Igbo parent body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, led by Prof George Obiozor had constituted a legal team that will represent the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in the court.
In a communique after it’s National Executive Council, NEC, meeting, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Alex Ogbonnia disclosed that after examining current local and national issues, the group “observed with keen interest the recent re-arraignment and consequent trial of our son, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
Ohanaeze Ndigbo stated that in as much it was not averse to the trial of Kanu, it however submitted that Kanu should be tried within the ambit of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and in line with global best practices.
Two years after the death of Biafra’s first main proponent, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Nnamdi Kanu founded Radio Biafra and served as its director. The radio station was known to frequently air pro-secessionist programs and sentiments, and was consequently deemed illegal by the NBC, then banned. This placed Kanu on Nigeria’s wanted list, leading to his arrest a year later.
In January, the separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, launched an armed security unit. The aim was to push back on Fulani herders, who are often blamed for communal clashes in the region.
But Nigerian authorities consider the unit as subversive. Troops have cracked down on the armed group in states where it is active. In 2017, the government banned IPOB’s activities, which are led by British Nigerian activist Nnamdi Kanu.
In another development, and in what looks like an open endorsement of Separatists movement in Nigeria, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Saliu Adetunji, sent a delegation to Cotonou, Republic of Benin, to observe court proceedings in the case involving a self-styled activist, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho.
Adela Oloko, personal assistant and director of media and publicity to the Olubadan, made this known in a statement issued in Ibadan.
Mr Oloko quoted the royal father as stating this in his palace while exchanging views with leaders of Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), led by the President-General, Yemisi Adeaga.
He said the step taken had become necessary in order to assure those who had been besieging his palace, including protesters, that he was not folding his arms over the travails of Igboho and his aides.
“Sunday Igboho lives in Ibadan, got married in Ibadan, reared his children in Ibadan, built houses in Ibadan and, as such, he has the rights to be protected by Ibadan traditional institution within the ambit of the law, just like any other resident of the city,” he said.
Hailed as a hero by his supporters, Sunday “Igboho” Adeyemo is seen as a dangerous rabble rouser by his opponents, accused of inciting ethnic hatred and stockpiling illegal weapons.
Mr Adeyemo first achieved some national notoriety last October when he used the country’s independence day to call for the creation of an independent Yoruba republic, although he was widely ridiculed for the idea at the time.
In early July, he fled the country after authorities raided his home in Ibadan as the authorities cracked down on separatists figures. He was arrested in neighbouring Benin three weeks later and Nigeria wants him extradited to face charges back home.
In a show of open support for Separatists, Afenifere through its national publicity secretary, Jare Ajayi said there is nothing wrong with Igboho seeking asylum to preserve his life. The group also accused the federal government of hunting “those seeking relief from the oppressive situation in Nigeria” while neglecting kidnappers and terrorists.
Also, the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) had called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to order the Department of State Services to call off the manhunt for the Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho.
The OPC also called on the Federal Government to release all persons arrested at Igboho’s home in Ibadan.
This is according to a statement by OPC President, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, on Monday.
The statement read in part, “We demand that security agents should call off the manhunt for Sunday Igboho and urgently release all those arrested in that despicable July 1 raid on his Ibadan home.”
It’s also believed in some quarters that, the media has in one way or the other been supporting the Separatists movements in Nigeria. This is done through robust reportage given to the activities of Separatists movements.
Analysts predict agitation by these movements will likely increase as the country heads toward elections in 2023. But they say the Nigerian government is unlikely to cede any power to the separatists — and a conflict will be too dangerous to pursue.
