The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu is 54-years-old today.
Kanu, who is currently detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) has been agitating for secession of Biafra and was on the run outside Nigeria for four years following attack on his country home at Afra-Ukwu, in Abia State by security forces until he was arrested and brought to court in Abuja on June 29 to face trial, IgbereTV reports.
Kanu is facing 11 charge counts of treason, treasonable felony, terrorism and illegal possession of firearms, among others.
Biography
Nnamdi Okwu Kanu (born 25 September 1967) is a Nigerian pro-Biafra political activist, who is also a British citizen. He is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Kanu founded IPOB in 2014. The main aim of IPOB is to restore the separatist state of Biafra which existed in Nigeria’s Eastern Region during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967–1970.
As the director of a United Kingdom-registered radio station named Radio Biafra, Kanu propagated Biafran separatism. Kanu was arrested on treason charges in Lagos, Nigeria on 14 October 2015 and was detained for more than a year, despite various court orders that ruled for his release. When in court, Kanu appeared regularly wearing a Jewish prayer shawl and head covering. He said in court, that he “believes in Judaism” and considers himself a Jew and oftentimes has led his Biafran people to various Jewish prayers and religious observations. On 28 April 2017, Kanu was released from prison on bail. After jumping bail and fleeing abroad, Kanu played a major part in the insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria, as the Nigerian security forces attempted to quash IPOB’s armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, resulting in a low-level conflict in early 2021. Despite the fighting, Kanu maintained that IPOB was interested in a peaceful solution and achieving Biafran independence without violence. In June 2021, he was arrested by Interpol and handed over to Nigeria.
Early life
Kanu was born 25 September 1967 in Isiama Afara Ukwu, Umuahia, Abia State — within the claimed territory of the Republic of Biafra a few months after it had declared independence from Nigeria. His father is Eze Israel Okwu Kanu (JP) and his mother, Ugoeze Nnenne Kanu. He attended Library Avenue Primary School and went to Government College Umuahia for his secondary education. He studied at University of Nigeria, Nsukka and moved to the UK before graduating.
Early Activism
Kanu began his activism for the freedom of Biafra as a Radio Biafra director and anchor of Biafra awareness under Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), who said while in a meeting in Kaduna, Nigeria on June 12, 2014, that he handed over Radio Biafra to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB but Kanu disappointed him. Radio Biafra however, was established by the defunct Biafran government in 1967 with the aim of championing the Biafran cause. Kanu was a relatively obscure figure until 2009 when he started Radio Biafra, a station that called for an independent state for the Igbo people and broadcast to Nigeria from London. In 2014, he founded IPOB.
On 5 September 2015, Nnamdi Kanu was a guest speaker at the World Igbo Congress which was held in Los Angeles, where he told his audience “we need guns and we need bullets”.
