Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the banned Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), has vowed to deal with those enforcing the suspended sit-at-home order in the southeast.
Kanu also said he would deal with those who use his name and those of his pro-Biafra groups, IPOB and Eastern Security Network (ESN), to organize unauthorized fundraising.
Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel for Mr. Kanu, revealed this in a statement through his verified twitter handle on Monday.
Mr. Ejimakor said that Mr. Kanu instructed him to post his (Kanu’s) “exact words” on the microblogging site when he visited the IPOB leader at the State Security Service (SSS) premises.
“Any person or group of people using my name, IPOB name or ESN in fundraising without my direct and express authorization is committing a crime under my name and I will deal with that person, regardless of their place of residence”, said Mr. Kanu said.
Although the IPOB leader did not name names, it is believed he was referring to a pro-Biafrano agitator, Simon Ekpa, who has continued to organize fundraising sessions mainly on Twitter to support IPOB’s Biafra agitation in the south-east and south- south. regions.
Mr. Ekpa, a Finnish-based lawyer, hails from Ebonyi State in south-eastern Nigeria.
Both men were allies and Mr. Ekpa still claims to be a disciple of Mr. Kanu.
sit-at-home order
Newslodge previously reported that Mr. Kanu in late July, through a handwritten letter issued through Mr. Ejimakor, his special counsel, ordered Mr. Ekpa to stop issuing stay-at-home orders in the region.
but sir ekpawho has continued to issue sit-at-home orders in the region, described the letter as “false” and kept that the civil action would continue until Mr. Kanu spoke to him directly in Finland, a northern European country, where he (Ekpa) resides.
In the letter, Kanu said that the idea of sitting at home had been “hijacked by our oppressors as a means to leave our land desolate and force our people to emigrate from our lands.”
The IPOB leader argued that sit-at-home enforcers have “mandated Igboland to now exclude the Igbo in Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Rivers, Edo, Delta and Benue.”
Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Edo and Delta are South-South states, while Kogi and Benue are North-Central states.
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Kanu stressed that those enforcing the sit-in at home were also thwarting his release from SSS detention.
“I will never forgive any person or group of people who continue to insist and enforce staying at home. I understand that this person is simply using my name to work indirectly against my release”, stated the IPOB leader.
Background
IPOB, in August 2021, introduced a stay-at-home order every Monday across the South-East to put pressure on the Nigerian government to release Mr. Kanu, who is on trial for terrorism at the Abuja Federal High Court.
The separatist group later suspended the order, preferring that it be implemented only on the days that Mr. Kanu appears in court.
But despite its suspension, residents of the five southeastern states – Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra – have been observing Monday’s stay-at-home order, mainly out of fear.
IPOB has repeatedly repudiated the Monday home sit-in across the region, saying those still enforcing the order were criminals trying to blackmail the separatist group.
However, Ekpa, who heads Autopilot, a faction of IPOB, has continued to declare stay-at-home orders in the region despite being suspended by the Kanu-led faction of IPOB.
IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to separate from the southeast and some parts of south-south Nigeria.
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