₦airaland Forum

Unknown gunmen have reportedly attacked security operatives and set a Nigerian Customs Service van ablaze along Issele-Azagba, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the gunmen ambushed the police and the vigilantes at the customs checkpoint.

“There were heavy gunshots along Issele-Azagba, Wednesday evening by unknown gunmen.

“They attacked security men along the highway and shot discriminately, in the process they set ablaze custom van” a witness narrated.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Edafe Bright, on Thursday confirmed the attack, saying that no police were killed in the attack.

He said, “The armed robbers shot at the vigilante group but they quickly took cover, no death was recorded.

“They attacked vigilante men but the vigilante quickly took cover. Nobody died.”

CHINA won't air Premier League matches this weekend due to planned shows of support for Ukraine.

The Prem has expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people following Russia's controversial invasion, which has led to at least 752 casualties so far.


China won't air Premier League matches this weekend due to show of support for Ukraine
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China won't air Premier League matches this weekend due to show of support for UkraineCredit: PA
The Premier League is set to show support for Ukraine after Russia's invasion
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The Premier League is set to show support for Ukraine after Russia's invasionCredit: Getty
Shows of support for Ukraine will be shown from Saturday until Monday
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Shows of support for Ukraine will be shown from Saturday until MondayCredit: AP
According to the BBC, China will pull TV coverage of the English top flight this weekend because there will be organised support during matches.

And the country appears against broadcasting the world siding with Ukraine at this difficult hour.

China is Russia's largest trading partner and one of the few nations globally that has not condemned president Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

The Premier League agreed a deal with streaming platform iQiyi Sports to become the exclusive digital broadcast partner in China last summer.


The agreement is expected to last until the end of the 2024-2025 season.

Last season, the Prem agreed a one-year deal with Tencent, which was reportedly worth less than $10million (£7.5m) per season.


Prem captains will wear yellow and blue armbands this weekend while the big screens at stadiums will display messages that read 'Football Stands Together'.

A Premier League statement read: "The Premier League and our clubs wholeheartedly reject Russia’s actions and will be showing support for the people of Ukraine at all matches this weekend.


"We call for peace and our thoughts are with all those who have been impacted.

"A show of solidarity for Ukraine will be visible at all Premier League matches from Saturday 5 to Monday 7 March.

"This follows the numerous ways in which clubs have already demonstrated their support.

The Premier League has already been showing support for the Ukrainian people
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The Premier League has already been showing support for the Ukrainian peopleCredit: AP
"The 20 club captains will wear special armbands in Ukrainian colours and fans are encouraged to join players, managers, match officials and club staff in a moment of reflection and solidarity before kick-off at each game.


"Big screens at stadiums will display 'Football Stands Together' against the backdrop of the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag.

"These words will also be shown on LED perimeter boards during matches.

"This message of solidarity will also be visible to fans around the world across Premier League digital channels.

"Logos and profiles on those platforms will change to represent the colours of the Ukrainian flag, which will also be displayed across match broadcasts both in the UK and overseas"

By Owei Lakemfa

THE eight-year war in Ukraine took a dramatic turn yesterday when Russian troops officially rolled into the country on the side of the separatist rebels in Eastern Ukraine. It was also to insist on its position that Ukraine’s decision to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, threatens Russia’s security.

Ukraine which since 2014 had declared itself at war with Russia, had on November 25, 2018 sent two gunboats, the Nikopol and the Berdyansk, and a tug boat, the Yani Kapu, into the Kerch Strait in the Crimea to confront the Russian Navy units. However, none of the previous confrontations compares with this week’s military conflicts which Russia claims is a limited military operation to “demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine” but which the latter says is an outright invasion.

Months of claims by NATO of an impending Russian invasion had been capped this month by the United States deciding to send troops to Romania and Poland. However, events took a dramatic turn on Monday, February 21, 2022 when Russian President, Vladimir Putin, called an exraordinary meeting of the country’s security council.

Three things struck me about this meeting. The first was that its deliberations were public. Second, a conclusion that Russia had been pushed to the wall with the infliction of renewed Western sanctions and non-respect of Russian position on the Eastward expansion of NATO.

The third was a complaint about the non-implementation of previous agreements, including the Minsk I &II Protocols designed to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting, therefore, decided to recognise the two breakaway Ukrainian Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The next day, the Russian parliament, the Duma, voted to give Putin permission to use military force outside the country. On Wednesday, Donetsk and Luhansk formally requested that Russian troops be sent into their separatist republics.

Next morning, Russian troops began pouring, not just into the East, but also other parts of Ukraine. Putin’s announced intention is the protection of the civilian populations in the Eastern Region and regime change while the Ukrainian government said it is an attempt to occupy the country.

American President Joe Biden claimed the Russian attack is “unprovoked”. What is his deploying American troops to the region, especially Poland, if not provocation? The United States would not have allowed Chinese troops pouring into Mexico or Russia setting up missiles in Cuba; so how does it expect Russia to lie back as it is being surrounded by hostile NATO troops?

There are various declarations such as the European Union threatening to impose the “harshest sanctions ever” on Russia. But it is easier for those countries to issue threats from the safety of their countries while the Ukrainians do the dying and witness their country and ec

A major casualty in the war would be the truth as all sides rev up their propaganda. Within hours of the attacks, the Ukrainian government announced it had destroyed five Russian war planes and an helicopter. On the other hand, the Russians who denied the Ukranian claims, announced they had neutralised the Ukranian defence system. Eventually, the truth would lie in the rubbles of the war.

The wars in Ukraine have their origins in a country polarised between a war-mongering EU/NATO and an edgy Russian bear. The immediate trigger was the 2014 coup against elected President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian politician from Eastern Ukraine who, back in 2004, had been denied the Presidency after winning a runoff.

This time, he was overthrown in a violent coup because his government preferred to sign a trade agreement with Russia rather than with the EU. For the East Ukrainians who had put their fate in free and fair elections, this second coup against a political leader from their side seemed too much a price to pay and they made a battle cry: ‘To your tents Oh Israel!’

It is that civil war that has now festered into a full scale international war with the Russians backing the rebels and NATO propping up the government in Kiev.

In my November 30, 2018 analysis of the Ukrainian War titled ‘Ukraine’s Farcical Drama’, I had written that: “The disputes in Ukraine are likely to go on for a long time, but I think the country shot itself in the foot by using the populace of one part of the country to overthrow the legitimately elected government led by politicians from another part of the country.”

I had argued that the military option adopted by Kiev would not lead to peace and that if Ukraine were to witness peace and reunite “it may need to consider the restoration of the Yanukovych administration as part of national reconciliation; if this seems far-fetched, so does the reunification of the country.”

Fortunately, in May 2019, Ukraine was able to replace the infantile, warmongering President Petro Poroshenko with a more sensible President Volodymyr Zelensky who in the April 21 rerun trounced the incumbent by taking 73.22 per cent of the votes, with Poroshenko clinching 24.45 per cent.

Although a comedian by profession, Zelensky was dead serious about bringing peace. But apparently, the warmongers have had the upper hand and war has not only continued, but escalated. There are lots of propaganda around the conflicts in Ukraine.

But the war on ground would neither be lost nor won on propaganda but by reworking the failed diplomacy that has led to today’s events. It might be fashionable or profitable to blame Russia, but what do you do with the so-called international community that has pretended for eight years that those dying in Eastern Ukraine never existed?

I am not sure anybody knows what the outcome of these unnecessary conflicts will be. The solution I see is: first, a de-escalation of the conflict, a ceasefire by all sides, including in Eastern Ukraine and a negotiated settlement.

A resuscitation of the Minsk Agreements is a good place to begin. The United Nations, UN, should concentrate on these rather than hold endless meetings seeking to blame one side or the other. The UN Security Council should be put to better use rather than turn it into a debating club where accusations and counter-accusations fly.

The contending forces in Europe and America are far too gone in their politics of self-justification and blame to be useful in the process. Germany that had hitherto played a more reconciliatory role has now been sucked into the fray.

Perhaps other parts of the world, especially the underdeveloped world, might be more useful. Fortunately, Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, is in Moscow; can he begin to lay the foundations for a peaceful resolution? At this time, we miss a leader like Nelson Mandela.

Gunmen have reportedly killed three police officers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria’s South-east.

The officers were gunned down on Monday night in front of a police station along the Enugu-Abakaliki highway, a source told PREMIUM TIMES.

The officers were said to be manning a roadblock in front of the station when the gunmen opened fire on them

The source said the gunmen were in a bus, and that the officers may have mistaken it for a commercial vehicle.

“The remains of the three police (officers) have been deposited at a mortuary in Abakaliki after they were confirmed dead by doctors,” he said.

The police spokesperson in Ebonyi State, Loveth Odah confirmed the incident.


She, however, said she could not give details of the casualty until after a visit to the scene of the incident.

Several police officers were shot dead in Enugu State in two separate attacks at checkpoints last week by gunmen.

The Ebonyi incident may indicate a return of the deadly attacks on the police and other security agencies in the South-east.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for it, the attack may be linked to the outlawed group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) which is leading the agitation for an independent state, Biafra, which they want carved out of the South-east and a part of the South-south regions.


IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is detained in Abuja, where he is standing trial for alleged treasonable felony and terrorism.

ThankGodFriday:
Do Alfas watch Nigerian music too?
Trying to blame musicians

babyboy4every1:
U dey mind him. Na naija music as usual. Na naija music corrupt hush puppy too. Some writers don have sense

Oga Reno zukwanu like stop causing conflict with this tribe thing abeg. We are all Nigerians"

Dear eberedicksonolejeme,
I really don’t understand you and those who have attacked me just like you. Why should praise of Yoruba music cause conflict? Why is it not causing conflict with others? I have written 7 articles for ThisDay in praise of Igbo culture. Why did those articles (which are still hosted in ThisDay’s archives) not cause crisis?
Does it mean that nobody can praise any ethnic nationality in Nigeria, except yours, for fear of causing conflict?
There is a young European boy on TikTok and Instagram named @iam_tiagoishola. This boy has devoted his life to the promotion of Yoruba culture, because, as he says it, it is a very attractive culture.
Will you now attack him because he is causing conflict?
Did you caution me when I wrote the attached viral article titled “The Igbo as a Blessing to Nigeria” on August 23, 2016?
Did you caution me when I wrote another viral article titled “The Igbo Are The Engine Of The Vehicle Called Nigeria” on March 10, 2019?
Did you caution me when Daily Trust wrote an editorial against me for praising the Igbo as the real richest people in Nigeria, if they had government support like others on September 7, 2020?
Are you aware that many Northerners think Onyeka Onwenu is my mother and I am Igbo because of my articles in praise of the Igbo? I have written more positively about the Igbo ethnicity than I have of any ethnic group. So why the conflict?
So, why now Ebere? Why now? Is this how to realise the Presidency much of my beloved brothers from your area want? By feeling insecure when others are praised?
#TableShaker

gidgiddy:
The colonial masters realised they were more of Northerners than Southerners and carved them into Northern Nigeria

Two operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) were killed on Friday in Anambra.

The officers were attacked as gunmen ambushed their convoy while on election campaign duty in Ekwulobia.

Videos showing the aftermath of the attack are circulating on social media.


The footages and photos show the extent of firepower against the security agents as bullets riddled windshields of vehicles.

Joint forces comprising the police and the military have taken over the area.

The bodies of the deceased were hurriedly taken away from the scene as several residents converged.

Attacks in Anambra are on the rise ahead of the November 6 governorship election.

Some gunmen on Tuesday attacked the Divisional Police Station, Kolo, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, killing one of the policemen on duty.

SaharaReporters gathered that other officers escaped with bullet wounds.

The gunmen after killing the policeman ransacked the whole station and made away with some ammunition.

Residents said the gunmen numbering six, shot at a police team searching vehicles in front of the station.

The deceased was said to have been rushed to the hospital where he received medical attention but later died.

Spokesman for the state police command, Asinim Butswat confirmed the incident.

He said the police have launched a tactical investigation into the incident.

“Yes, it happened at Divisional Police Station, Kolo, Ogbia, a police Inspector was killed, not a sergeant,” Butswat told SaharaReporters.

Abujason:
[/color]
I’m amazed we have these many cowards in Nigeria on Nairaland. The man was brave to put on that outfit without intimidation to make a statement. The rest of you here making noise including Shame George are simply suffering and smiling.
I spit on all of you.

You’re wearing Biafran flag – Actress, Shan George reacts as Chiwetalu Agu denies supporting secessionistsPublished on October 8, 2021 By Annie Nwosu

Nollywood actress, Shan George has reacted to a video of Chiwetalu Agu denying that the outfit he was wearing when he was arrested is the Biafran flag.

The veteran actor was arrested by troops of the Nigerian Army for wearing Biafra-themed clothing at Upper Iweka Road, Onitsha.

Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director, Army Public Relations, confirming his arrest, said the veteran actor was apprehended for inciting members of the public and soliciting support for the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

However, in a viral video after his arrest, Chiwetalu Agu said he was sharing bread to hungry Nigerians and not demonstrating for anyone to join Biafra.

According to him, his outfit is just a dress with a rising sun and not anyway representing the Eastern Security Network, ESN.

Reacting, Shan George, in a post via her Instagram account, urged the actor to own up to his fight for freedom.

She noted that there was nothing absolutely wrong with fighting for freedom adding that Nigeria once fought to be freed from the British colonialists.

”My dear brother, you are clearly wearing a Biafra flag and you should own it with your full chest.

”I don’t get all the rising sun English you are speaking. I personally see nothing wrong in certain people fighting for their freedom.

”Nigeria fought for theirs from the British before 1960. Scotland and the rest fought for theirs too, at least you were not carrying any arms, fighting for freedom peacefully shouldn’t be a crime, own your fight with your full chest,” she wrote.

Banks in the South-East region of Nigeria have started bringing down the Nigerian flag from their poles, SaharaReporters has learnt.

This comes a few days after the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) urged its members to remove all Nigerian flags mounted in "Biafra land."

The group had also declared another sit-at-home on October 1, 2021, when Nigeria will be celebrating its 61st Independence anniversary.

Meanwhile, sources in the region told SaharaReporters that even though IPOB had directed that banks should be left alone, the financial institutions themselves have started bringing down their Nigerian flags over fear of attacks.

A source in Enugu told SaharaReporters that Access Bank at Holy Ghost Junction in Enugu, the state capital has brought down all the flags on the poles on its premises, including the Nigerian flag.

He said, “Access Bank at Holy Ghost junction, the old park has brought down the flags. There's nothing on the poles anymore.”

Another resident in the region said Zenith Bank at Onitsha in Anambra has pulled down the Nigerian flag from their poles too.

He said, “I can also confirm that Zenith Bank, Onitsha removed all their flags.”

Another resident said, “United Bank for Africa (UBA), Owerri Road branch, Onitsha removed all their flags —Nigerian flags and even that of the bank, they didn't just lower the flags, they pulled the flags off.”

Also in Awka, Anambra State capital, Wema Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank branches have removed their Nigerian flags, leaving only their company flags on their poles, SaharaReporters learnt.

Also, pictures of banks in the region without flags on their poles have circulated on social media.

One of the executives of IPOB, Chika Edoziem, had on Friday said the separatist group would lock down the entire South-East region on October 1.

He said, “The 1st of October declared total shutdown in Biafra land. There shall be no movement in Biafra land on the 1st of October being Nigerian Independence day. Again from tonight, all Nigerian flags mounted anywhere in Biafra land must be brought down; banks exempted.

“IPOB leadership will communicate to banks directly and give them the reason why they must peacefully bring down the flag. Otherwise, we do it ourselves in our own way.”

The leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) since the third week of June following his arrest in Kenya and repatriation to Nigeria.

About six policemen were on Wednesday night allegedly killed by gunmen at a police checkpoint along Obeagu Uno-Amodu – Umueze Amechi road, in the Enugu South Local Government Area of the state.

Our correspondent gathered that the hoodlums attacked the checkpoint located at Obeagu Uno shortly after Inyaba Bridge around 7:30 pm.

Sources in the community told our correspondent that the hoodlums who came from Agbani axis of the road had first encounter with policemen at 4 Corner and in Amagunze in Nkanu East Council headquarters before coming to attack the checkpoint at Enugu South.

Although details of the attack were still sketchy, one of the sources told The PUNCH that the hoodlums killed about six policemen at the checkpoint, burnt their Hilux van and took away their AK-47 rifles.

One of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “It was around 7 pm we started hearing gunshots along the road. The shooting lasted about 30 minutes. But after the shooting, the hoodlums appeared to have overpowered the policemen as they succeeded in setting their vehicle on fire.

“I can’t say how many policemen were killed but the policemen at the checkpoint were six. What I can tell you is that up to six people were killed in the incident. Some of the hoodlums may have also been involved.”

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the incident but could not provide casualty details.

Ndukwe in a text message sent to our correspondent simply said, “I need to verify that and revert, please.”

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORKJUL 20, 2021

The United Kingdom Parliament has stated that the Nigerian government has to explain the roles it played and the manner of the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, from Kenya.

The UK Minister of State for the Commonwealth, Lord Tariq Ahmad, demanded that the Nigerian government should explain to the British government how it repatriated the IPOB leader.

This followed a debate by the UK Parliament on July 7, during which British lawmakers discussed the UK government’s assessment of Kenya’s role in Kanu’s arrest.

Lord Alton of Liverpool raised the issue at the House of Lords, seeking to address the controversies surrounding the transfer of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria against his will.

He also sought to know if there was any assistance provided to the embattled IPOB leader by the High Commission in Abuja.

A parliamentary schedule stated, “Lord Alton of Liverpool to ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the alleged role of the government of Kenya in the detention and alleged mistreatment of Nigerian activist Nnamdi Kanu, (2) the circumstances surrounding the transfer of Kanu to Nigeria against his will, and (3) of any assistance being provided to him by the High Commission in Abuja. HL1665.”

In response to the parliament’s debate, Ahmad said, “We are seeking clarification from the Nigerian Government about the circumstances of the arrest and detention of Nnamdi Kanu.”

Ahmad also confirmed claims by the British High Commission in Abuja that the UK government was providing consular assistance for the IPOB leader.

“The UK has requested consular access to Kanu from the Nigerian government, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance,” he maintained.

While the Buhari regime has refused to disclose how it repatriated the IPOB leader from Kenya, the UK government had clarified that Kanu travelling with a British passport was not arrested within its shores.

IPOB had also accused Kenya’s special police force of arresting, detaining, and torturing Kanu before the authorities handed him over to the Nigerian government.

But Kenya, through its high commissioner to Nigeria, Wilfred Machage, refuted the claim, stating that the East African Country was not involved in the whole process.

But findings by The Guardian, a UK newspaper, indicated that he was arrested in Kenya, as Kanu’s UK passport remains in Kenya.

He was said to have entered Kenya this year with his British passport on a visa expiring in June, the newspaper reported.

Also, Kingsley Kanu, a brother to the British-Nigerian citizen, insisted that the Kenyan government was involved in the arrest.

Mynd44:
He travelled as a British Nigerian carrying a British passport.

This isn't so difficult

Gunmen have killed five persons, three of them policemen in Anambra.

The assailants, who stormed Abatete in Idemili North local government area, also set three vehicles ablaze on Tuesday night.

They abducted one unidentified young man from Uke after several shots fired at him failed to penetrate.

He was dumped in the trunk of the vehicle and whisked away to an unknown destination, it was gathered.

A source told The Nation the hoodlums invaded the community in two Highlander jeeps and one Sienna car.

The incident, according to the source, occurred at Eke-Agu area in the community.

Anambra Police spokesman, ikenga Tochukwu, said he has not received any information on the incident.

But another Senior Police Officer, confirmed it to The Nation.

Lately, some individuals and civic groups have, in some show of support for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, indicated that they will ‘monitor’ his trial. In the same vein, some have also called for a fair trial. Fair trial of what? Illegality in high places?

While it’s commendable that Kanu has attracted such avalanche of support across the spectrum, it’s important to make it clear from the outset that there won’t be any trial to monitor. None. Nnamdi Kanu cannot be tried on the basis of this extraordinary rendition that brought him in Nigeria.

If you truly support Kanu, you don’t need to monitor his trial or ensure he gets a fair trial. What you need to do is to oppose his trial. Saying that you will monitor his trial gives the impression of bestowing legality to the illegality that brought him to Nigeria.

To better understand how Kanu ended up in Nigeria and why he won’t face trial, you need to juxtapose it to what happened to Umaru Dikko in 1984 and it’s aftermaths. Dikko’s kidnapping was, like this one of Kanu, a brazen act of attempted rendition, which is a State crime under international law and it comes with dire consequences - legal, diplomatic and political.


Though the kidnapping of Dikko failed, it brought the following consequences: Britain swiftly arrested seventeen people, four were convicted and they served between six to eight years in prison. Britain expelled the Nigerian High Commissioner and broke diplomatic relations with Nigeria for 2 years. And most tellingly, Nigeria’s subsequent requests to Britain to extradite Dikko and others were summarily denied.

All these were done even as Dikko was not a citizen of Britain but a mere resident. Conversely, Kanu is a bonafide citizen of Britain, traveling on a British passport when he was unlawfully renditioned to Nigeria from Kenya. That should counter for more countervailing measures.

What this means is that, apart from answering to its conscience as a nation, Nigeria shall ultimately answer to Britain, to the international community and even to Kenya if Kenya succeeds in denying official complicity in the rendition.

A nation does not go to jail. So, when I stated that Nigeria will answer for the rendition, it means a mix of consequences, some of which are already unfolding. The easiest one to see is that Nigeria has, by her own hands, lost its jurisdiction to subject Kanu to trial. In sporting terms, you can say that Nigeria scored an own goal.

How that own goal was scored and its fallouts is a complex legal subject that will certainly be ventilated in court and within the diplomatic circles to which Nigeria is subject. But one thing that is clear is this: No valid prosecutorial or judicial action can proceed from such a manifestly criminal conduct by a State.

So, when you say you will be monitoring Kanu’s trial or that you want a fair trial for him, you are unwittingly buying into a grievous crime that should shock your conscience. Put another way, you will be making yourself complicit in what was done to Kanu or as lawyers would say: you’re making yourself an accessory after the fact.

Conversely, it would be a great thing to say that you will monitor the trial if Kanu’s presence in Nigeria was compliant with due process. That due is nothing but what is generally known as extradition.

Extradition is the only valid means of surrendering an international fugitive from one country to the other. That’s why Nigeria was punished for daring to kidnap Dikko. There’s no reason to think that Kanu’s case will be different.

Nigeria has an extradition statute which is known as the Extradition Act. Kenya has a similar law but with slightly different name. Britain has its own. All three are, in substance, very similar and strict to boot.

What I can tell you for now, assuming you don’t know it already is that Kanu’s rendition will live in infamy because it violated the extradition law of Kenya (the country of abduction), Britain (the country of domicile and citizenship) and even Nigeria (the country of destination).

If you add other municipal and international laws, conventions and protocols to which Nigeria is subject but chose to break just to bring Kanu to Nigeria, you begin to see why you must oppose his trial instead of monitoring it.

A Biafra separatist leader and UK national was arrested by Nigerian authorities in Kenya and taken to Nigeria in an act of extraordinary rendition, his family and lawyers have claimed.

Nnamdi Kanu, a British-Nigerian citizen, fled Nigeria in 2017 while on bail facing charges of terrorism and incitement. He was arrested last week and brought to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

Nigerian authorities have declined to say where he was taken from. The sudden arrest caused widespread surprise in Nigeria, as his whereabouts had been unknown for years.

Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) – a prominent separatist movement proscribed in Nigeria – has long been a widely known and controversial figure in Nigeria. He has called for Biafra independence, including in broadcasts from Radio Biafra – a digital station he founded and ran from his home in south London.

Nnamdi Kanu wearing a Jewish prayer shawl as he left his house in Umuahia, south-east Nigeria, to meet veterans of the Nigerian civil war, in May 2017.

Kanu was first charged in 2015, when Biafra secessionist mass protests erupted in Nigeria for the first time since the Biafra civil war. The conflict is one of the darkest chapters in Nigerian history and the bitter legacy still reverberates in Nigeria.

Kanu’s whereabouts had been unknown since he left Nigeria in 2017, after soldiers attacked his home in Abia state during one of a number of military operations against separatist agitators in the region.

His brother Kingsley Kanu said he had spoken to him while he was in Kenya, days before he went missing in June.

“I spoke to him on the phone, he was well, in Nairobi. His associates said he went out, he didn’t take his documents with him so he wasn’t planning on going anywhere. Then all of a sudden we see him paraded in handcuffs in Abuja,” Kingsley Kanu said.

“It is an extraordinary rendition, aided by Kenyan authorities,” he said. “It is an outrage that cannot be allowed to happen. We are holding the Nigerian government and Kenyan government responsible. The British government, they know what is happening,” he said, adding that UK officials had made contact with Kanu’s family and legal team and that there were concerns he would be abused in detention.

“I am concerned for his wellbeing because you know how they will treat him,” Kingsley said.

Lawyers for the Kanu family accused the Nigerian government of “state kidnapping” and said he was abducted by Nigerian officials in Kenya and taken to Nigeria against his will.

Evidence seen by the Guardian shows Kanu entered Kenya this year on his British passport on a visa expiring in June. His UK passport remains in Kenya.

Kanu was not in possession of a Nigerian passport, his family said, and he has verbally renounced Nigerian citizenship in broadcasts.

The abduction of a person from a foreign country with the aim of rendition to justice is illegal under international law.

Nigerian and Kenyan authorities have denied that Kenya was involved in the arrest, while the UK consulate in Nigeria has said it contacted Nigeria’s government concerning the case. UK officials did not immediately respond to requests from the Guardian for information.

To Kanu’s many followers he is the most vocal and defiant advocate for Biafran independence. Secessionist protests have been brutally shut down in Nigeria. Yet broadcasts calling for mass uprisings, taunting the president, Muhammadu Buhari, and targeting ethnic groups in Nigeria have drawn the ire of Nigerian authorities.

Nigeria’s attorney general, Abubakar Malami, said on 29 June that Kanu had been extradited to Abuja, after cooperation between Nigerian intelligence services and Interpol.

“He has been brought back to Nigeria in order to continue facing trial after disappearing while on bail,” Malami said. He accused Kanu of “engaging in subversive activities” and of responsibility for rising armed attacks against police and civil authorities in south-east Nigeria that have been blamed on armed separatist groups.

The arrest of Kanu comes amid growing tensions around regional divisions within Nigeria, and armed separatism in the south-east.

Since security forces brutally clamped down on mass protests which began in 2015, armed attacks in the region have grown. More than 150 people were killed at pro-Biafra rallies between August 2015 and August 2016 according to Amnesty International.

The protests were in part a response to the election of President Buhari, who served as a brigade major in the civil war. Millions of people died in the conflict, mostly in south-east Nigeria, from starvation after a government blockade of the region prevented food supplies and humanitarian support.

Last month, Twitter deleted a post by Buhari for violating its rules on abuse, after he referred to the civil war in a threat against armed Biafran groups.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” the president said, drawing mass condemnation.

In retaliation the government banned the use of Twitter in Nigeria.

The legacy of the war is still bitter in Nigeria. Authorities censor cultural depictions of the conflict and the war is not taught in most schools.

Finland-based Nigerian-Finnish Citizen, Simon Ekpa Takes Over From Nnamdi Kanu At Radio Biafra
The appointment was revealed by Mr Ekpa on his official Facebook page, noting it is honour to serve the Biafra nation and a call to serve lovers of freedom.

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORKJUL 09, 2021

Simon Ekpa, one of the arrowheads of the agitation for the state of Biafra in Finland has been appointed to take over daily broadcast on Radio Biafra following the detention of the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

The appointment was revealed by Mr Ekpa on his official Facebook page, noting it is honour to serve the Biafra nation and a call to serve lovers of freedom.


"Our Leader, Mazi Nnamdi on this day, 8th of July 2021 directed that I, Simon Ekpa should start broadcasting from Radio Biafra with immediate effect.

"On this note, it is honour, and at the same time, a call to service, a call to serve Biafra nation, and a call to serve lovers of freedom.

"This task, I will do with everything in me to see that we maintain the momentum and the legacy of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and IPOB.

"I will serve with everything in me and I will double my effort in media, diplomacy, and otherwise to the best interest of Biafra people.

"I am just a servant and I will serve. Our leader will continue to lead this struggle from wherever he is.

"I am Simon Ekpa, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu's disciple on Biafra restoration."

Simon Ekpa LL.M (Master of Laws) is a human rights activist and a legal researcher and advisor.

He is a native of Ngbo in the Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State in Southeastern Nigeria.

He is said to be a chief and one of those in line to the throne as the son of the late King Nwangbo (The Ogaba Idu of Ngbo clan).

Simon has been living in Finland for more than a decade. He is a Finnish citizen and a politician. He was recently elected deputy councillor in his municipality.

Radio Biafra stands at the centre of the Biafra agitation struggle since its inception

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has affirmed its commitment to the rule of law and right to civic expression following controversy over the statement of one of its vice presidents on the Federal Government’s handling of secessionist agitations.

NBA President Olumide Akpata dissociated the association from the position of 1st Vice President John Mr Aikpokpo-Martins, who argued the President of Nigeria is required by the Constitution to “crush” agitators for secession.

Aikpokpo-Martins has been under fire among lawyers since Saturday following his Facebook post in which he further argued that self-determination agitations such as those canvassed by Boko Haram, Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, alias Sunday Igboho, are “simply unconstitutional”.

Reacting to the controversy in a statement, Akpata noted that, as The Nation reported, his VP’s opinion was personal and not that of the NBA.

He said: “My attention has been drawn to news reports, currently making the rounds, in which the 1st Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins, was quoted as saying that the President of Nigeria is constitutionally bound to “crush” secessionist agitators in Nigeria.

"In response to the many enquiries I have so far received from members of the Association and indeed the general public, it has become necessary to state categorically that, as was affirmed in the said news report, the views expressed by the 1st Vice President are his personal views which he posted on his Facebook account in the course of an online exchange, and that the said views do not represent the position of the NBA on the subject.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the NBA, as an Association founded to defend the Rule of Law, will continue to champion and defend the rights of every Nigerian citizen and/or group including, inter-alia, the right to lawful and peaceful protest; the right to make lawful demands recognized under the Nigerian Constitution or international charters applicable to Nigeria; and the right to enjoy the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise by a Court of Law in a free and fair trial that accords with the basic principles of natural justice.”

Aikpokpo-Martins also clarified his comments, stating that he neither meant nor intended to be taken as giving the President approval to handle secessionist agitations in an unlawful or unconstitutional manner.

He said: “It was never my intention to suggest vide the said post, and same did not suggest that the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or any other person at that is at liberty to deal or engage any person or citizen for whatever reason outside constitutional confines and statutory restrictions guaranteed and established by the constitution and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Let me say that as a person, a lawyer and the 1st Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association, I have not, cannot and will not advocate for any extra-legal and/or extra-judicial sanction that is contrary and inimical to the promotion of the rule of law within the confines of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to be meted out on any person alleged to have committed any crime…

“In the light of the above therefore, it can only be proper and brave to say; I am sorry for the stir.”

The Police Command in Akwa Ibom has confirmed Saturday’s attack on its Udung Uko Divisional Police Headquarters by gunmen.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Odiko MacDon, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Udung Uko in Akwa Ibom on Sunday.

Macdon said that the situation would have been worse but for the gallant policemen on duty who repelled the attack.

He, however, said that the three officers who sustained gunshot wounds were receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital in the state.

“Gunmen on Saturday night attacked the Divisional Police Headquarters in Udung Uko Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom.
“At least three officers sustained fatal injuries, resulting from heavy gunshots as policemen on duty tried to repel the attack,” he said.

According to him, the identities of the assailants are still unknown as at press time.

Meanwhile, a source, who claimed anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the gunmen came in a Sienna Toyota vehicle.