The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has threatened a 6-day lockdown of the entire Southeast if its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not released unconditionally before November 4, 2021.
The group, in a statement from its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said failure to release Kanu would attract a one-week sit-at-home from November 5, 2021, till November 10 with exception of Sunday, November 7, 2021
The Anambra governorship election is slated for November 6, 2021, which the Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have insisted must hold.
But IPOB on Saturday said Kanu could not continue to stay in detention having committed no offense known to any law.
It alleged Federal Government’s plans to torment or abandon Kanu in DSS custody through frivolous court adjournment, insisting that such plans to subject him to trauma in detention would not succeed.
The group regretted the inconveniences the lockdown would cause on the people of the zone but stressed that no amount of sacrifice would be too much to ensure its leader regained his freedom.
The statement reads in part: “We wish to inform Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom that IPOB will lock down Biafra land from 5th of November to 10th of November except Sunday, November 7th, a day our people worship the Almighty God, Chukwu Okike Abiama,
“Following the adjournment of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s court case to 10th of November 2021, by the Federal High Court Abuja, we the great movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), wish to inform Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom that IPOB will lock down Biafra land from 5th of November to 10th of November except Sunday, November 7th, a day our people worship the Almighty God, Chukwu Okike Abiama, if the Nigeria Government fails to release our leader unconditionally before 4th of November 2021.
“Our leader, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi MUST be released UNCONDITIONALLY on or before November 4, 2021, because he has not committed any offense known to any law. Failure to release our leader Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi KANU on or before November 4, 2021, our one-week Sit-At-Home begins on November 5, 2021, till November 10.
“Although we quite understand the pains and adverse effects of this option on our people, we are compelled to take it to achieve a better purpose in the collective interest of Biafrans. We have taken time to analyse what transpired on October 21 when our Leader was arraigned in court and discovered that the federal government is not sincere and only wants to humiliate him and keep him perpetually in DSS custody to rot there.
“We all saw how lawyers, journalists, Igbo delegates and respected traditional rulers and other people who came from all around the world to witness his court case were restricted and denied access into the court premises by security agents who kept them outside under the scorching heat of the sun. What a humiliation and wickedness!
“We cannot accept that anymore. We can never allow our leader Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi KANU to be tried SECRETLY and we can never also allow him to be tried under SHARIA law under any guise. NIGERIA must follow International laws in handling our leader.
“Mazi Nnamdi KANU is in DSS dungeon today because of his passion for Biafra independence, and we must sacrifice all we can to ensure that he regains his freedom. He has sacrificed so much for us all, so we must be prepared to sacrifice little for him.
“Unless the federal government releases him unconditionally before November 4, we shall sacrifice one week for him as a warning protest to convey to our oppressors that Nnamdi Kanu represents over 70 million Biafrans.
“He is innocent of all the charges preferred against him. As long as he is in detention our individual businesses do not matter so much because he is suffering for us all and we can’t abandon him.
“We seriously regret the inconveniences this may cause our people but it’s a necessary sacrifice we need to make until we have our full independence. Nobody resident in Biafra land is expected to flout this directive as doing so amounts to challenging the will of the people on the Biafra project.
“This one-week sit-at-home is also to let our oppressors understand that we are not going to tolerate any plan to torment or abandon our leader in DSS custody through frivolous court adjournments. Any plans to subject him to trauma in detention through long adjournments while real terrotists and mass murderers are having fun across the country cannot fly.
“Nnamdi Kanu must be freed because he committed no crime. Asking for a referendum so that Biafrans will decide whether or not they want to continue as part of Nigeria is no crime. He should not suffer for seeking justice for his people.
“We have been enslaved and caged enough by the Fulani-controlled federal government of Nigeria and its allies. If we shut down Biafra land just for one week to secure our permanent freedom, it is worth the sacrifice. Everybody should brace up for this sacrifice.
“This is the time all Biafrans must remain united. Let’s not give the oppressors and their agents any room to create division in our midst.”
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