Leader
of the Indigenous People of Biafra and founder of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi
Kanu, described Nigeria as a zoo and accused Governor Rochas Okorocha of
Islamising Imo State in an interview he granted an online medium,
Sahara Reporters.
He,
however, said in one of the statements he made to the Department of
State Services after he was arrested at a Lagos hotel on October 14,
2015 that he made the said comments in order to facilitate societal
change.
Kanu and two others have been charged with treason and
other related offences on account of his agitation for the secession of
the South-East and other areas of the country to form a sovereign state
of Biafra.
He confirmed in the statement, dated October 24, 2015,
that he made the comments, calling Nigeria a zoo to justify his belief
that the only language its people understood was violence in the
interview with Sahara Reporters.
He said he also accused Okorocha of Islamising Imo State in the said interview.
Kanu
stated, “A Sahara Reporters’ interview was played by officers of the
DSS on October 24, 2015, as part of my interrogation and I acknowledged
that it was me that gave the interview and the answers I provided were
done by me.
“As I have earlier stated in past interrogation, the
statements I make are purely designed to elicit reaction that will
facilitate the desired change which is needed.
“In the interview, I made reference and said, ‘the zoo has come to an end, they keep killing our people…’.
“In
the interview, I also said ‘the language the people hear in the zoo is
violence. If they fail to give us Biafra, Somalia will be a child’s
play’, yes, I stated that in the interview.
“Again, I was asked (and I said), ‘If they do not give us Biafra, there would be no one living in the zoo,’ yes, I said so.
“I
was also asked did I say that Rochas had Islamised Imo State and I said
yes. I was also asked to confirm that I said that I do not believe that
a peaceful approach to the restoration of Biafra was viable because I
am not aware of anywhere else in the world where that is the case
considering the history of the countries and their approach to such
issues.”
He also denied belonging to Biafra Zionist Movement but admitted he believed in the group’s cause.
“I
do not belong to Biafra Zionist Movement. However, I stated my support
for its action because it was a civil act designed to highlight societal
injustice.
“The said act involved a group of civilians massing at the Government House at Enugu to hoist the Biafran flag,” he added.
The 48-year-old, who re-affirmed himself as the leader of IPOB, also gave an insight into the leadership structure of the group.
He
stated, “I wish to state for the records that I, Nnamdi Kanu, is the
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and Director of Radio Biafra
and is in charge of the running of the organisation. In terms of the
organisational structure, I can confirm that the office of the Director
sits at the apex.”
Kanu said under him was Mazi Udanna Asiegbu.
He
added, “Under him (Asiegbu) is the office of the CoC, which translates
into the Co-ordinator of Co-ordinators and under him comes the
Continental Representatives and are as follows:
“(1) North
America is represented by Mr. Nnamaram Ugochukwu; South America, by
Leornard Aniemene, who is resident in Trinidad and Tobago. Mazi Asiegbu
is resident in Spain and Clifford Iroanya, the Coordinator of
Coordinators, is resident in Houston Texas, USA.
“Nnamaram
Ugochukwu is resident in Dallas, Texas. The continent of Europe is
represented by Mazi Edoziem in Switzerland; Asia continent is
represented by Onyinyechi Nlebedim in Malaysia while Australia is
represented by Austin Ofomah, who resides in Canberra, Australia.”
Operatives
of the DSS on October 14, 2015, arrested Kanu at the Golden Tulip
Airport Hotel, where he allegedly checked into using a fictitious name.
On
December 23, the accused persons were scheduled for arraignment before a
Federal High Court in Abuja, but Kanu refused to take his plea to the
six counts of treason and other charges instituted against him and his
two co-defendants due to what he called his lack of confidence in the
presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed.
The judge promptly
returned the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court,
Justice Ibrahim Auta, for reassignment to another judge and the three
accused persons were returned to the custody of the DSS.
The
Federal Government, through the Federal Director of Public Prosecutions,
Mr. Mohammed Diri, alleged in its summary of its case in the newly
filed six counts that the IPOB leader checked into the hotel using the
name, Ezebuiro Nwannekaenyi, in order to conceal his identity.
Diri stated this in a document listing the proposed prosecution witnesses lined up to testify against Kanu and the two others.
Apart
from Kanu, one of the two other defendants in the six counts filed by
the Federal Government is a Field Maintenance Engineer, David Nwawuisi,
of Ericson, who maintains MTN masts in Enugu State.
The other
defendant, Benjamin Madubugwu, was said to be living in Ubilisiuzo,
Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, where he allegedly
received custody of a container housing radio transmitters meant for
Radio Biafra from Kanu.
The fresh charges were filed against the
three men barely 24 hours after Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in a ruling on
Kanu’s bail application on December 17, ordered his unconditional
release from DSS custody having been detained for about two months
without any valid charges filed against him.
No new date has been fixed for the arraignment of the accused persons.
www.punchng.com/why-i-called-nigeria-a-zoo-threatened-war-kanu/
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