Biafra: Release the leader of IPOB Nnamdi Kanu, or Nigeria will not know peace

Uche Asiegbu is the Secretary and Head of Directorate of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). He says Nigeria will not know peace until Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB is released from its jail.

Excerpts

Since your leader, Nnamdi Kanu was arrested, your people (Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB) have been protesting all over Nigeria, and all over the world. Why must it be so?

It must be so because of the injustice being meted out to our leader, the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. It must be so because the world must be made to hear and to know about it. It must be so because Nnamdi Kanu was abducted on the 14^th of October 2014 by men of State Security Service (SSS) of Nigeria, they did not arraign him before any competent court of law, until we discovered on the 16^th of that month, until we began to shout.

We started shouting to the world the injustice the Nigerian state was meting out to our leader for holding illegally after 48 hours, then they quickly arraigned him on the 19^th and he was granted bail. With his bail conditions met, he was not released, thereby violating his right – his fundamental human right.

So my people, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are saying no to that with the protests. All we want is the release of our leader, Nnamdi Kanu, unconditionally. Until that is done, Nigeria will know no peace.

That evil contraption called the zoological republic of Nigeria will know no peace. That is why my people are shouting, that is why they are protesting so that the world can hear our voice.

Before we continue sir, what is the condition of your leader? Are you in touch with him? Are you in contact with him, is he alright?

Twice they allowed our people to see him, and they said he is fine and in high spirit. But nobody is fine in detention. Nobody can be in high spirits in incarceration. He may seem fine, he may seem to be full of life, but we want him released. Nobody is fine in detention.

We understand you have taken the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari to court, as a matter of fact to the International Criminal Court (ICC). What do you hope to achieve by this?

We want to achieve so many things. We want to tell the world that Buhari is a murderer. We want to tell the world that the jihadist Mohammadu Buhari is a respecter of no law. This Muhammadu Buhari was the person that overthrew a democratically elected government in 1983/84. This Muhammadu Buhari is a jihadist. He killed innocent Biafrans in Owerri. This same Muhammadu Buhari said in 2014 that monkeys and baboons will soak in blood. This same man is today the leader of Nigerian government, what can you call such a country?

That is part of the reason we say we are not part of that evil contraption called Nigeria. That is why we took him to the ICC because he is a murderer, a terrorist and a pedophile, who must not be allowed to walk the streets free.

But some people think you are taking this agitation too far. They think IPOB should just work for a better deal in Nigeria by agitating for true federalism. Don’t you think they are right?

We don’t want federalism or true federalism, all we want is Biafra. Before the British came we have been in existence. The amalgamation, which was a slight on our humanity and our civilization, was to last for 100 years and that amalgamation ended in the 31^st of December 2014. We have the original documents to prove it. So all we are saying is that we want Biafra, we don’t want any true federalism.

There is no country called Nigeria. Have you seen a country named after a river before? Can a black man go to a Whiteman’s country and give them another name – expecting them to forget their real name? Can a black man name their country for them? Why must we be forced to answer a name that is not our name? Why must we be forced to stay together with peoples that have nothing in common with us? We don’t have the same DNA with this Hausa/Fulani people. We don’t have anything in common with Yoruba people. We are the Indigenous People of Biafra. We have been in existence thousands of years before the white people came to our land. We will not have anything to do with this people anymore. All we want is Biafra.

Is there anything at all that will make you personally to abandon this struggle?

The only thing that will make me abandon this struggle is death. The only thing I will see that will make me abandon this struggle is death.

With the way things are turning out already, what would be your advice to Buhari? What would you advice Buhari, who is now Biafra’s number one enemy?

The only thing I will advise Buhari is to commit suicide. The only thing I will advise the pedophile, Muhammadu Buhari is to kill himself. Otherwise the law will catch up with him and he will pay dearly. He is a murderer, he remains a murderer. He has murdered people in cold blood. People who were protesting peacefully in Onitsha, were shot dead on the 30^th of August 2015 under Buhari’s order.

They have been killing us since 1945, which is why we are calling on the world to come to our rescue. If they push us to another thing, they will have to live with the consequences, and they should not blame us.

So my advice to the pedophile Buhari is to go and commit suicide because he has done his worse, which is why we are coming after him. By the time we get him, he will know that we are serious.

What is your advice to your own people, Biafran people worldwide?

I am advising every indigenous people of Biafra to be relentless. You must continue doing what you are doing; we cannot run away from this people. Biafra is our land and Biafra will remain our land. We are under occupation by the evil country called Nigeria, and if you continue to agitate for your freedom, believe you me, freedom you will get.

You must remain fearless before your enemies. Remain fearless before your enemies, even at the point of death. You will not abandon this struggle, because if you do our children and our unborn children will suffer it. If our fathers did not stop in 67 – 70, may be by now we would have been free.

It is because they stopped in 1970, that is why they are still killing Biafrans and we have not been able to do anything about it. That is why after 45 years of that conflict, they are still killing us today. In the North, in the East, in the South, they keep on murdering us. The only way we can say no to this is just to continue to fight. We must remain relentless; we must remain resolute; we must remain fearless before our enemies.

Let every Biafran continue to support this struggle; you must continue to do what you are doing. By the special grace of Chukwu Okike Abiama, Nnamdi Kanu is our leader, and he will lead us to the promise land.

Your final thoughts sir?

I have nothing else to add than that we all must put hands together. Whether you are in diaspora or anywhere you are – if you are singing, you sing for Biafra; if you are praying, pray for Biafra; if you are writing, write for Biafra; if you are running, run for Biafra. Anything you are doing, do it for Biafra. With these I know we will be victorious. Thank you.