UPDATED: IPOB Leader Nnamdi Kanu Arraigned In Abuja

Posted by Tolulope Ogugua Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Tuesday, June 29th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has been arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

African Examiner had earlier reported that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, announced the arrest of the IPOB leader on Tuesday afternoon.

Malami said Kanu was arrested on Sunday but did not give details of where and how the fleeing IPOB leader was captured.

The AGF accused Kanu of instigating violence in the South-East geopolitical zone using various social media platforms.

Kanu was subsequently brought before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday where the judge ordered an accelerated hearing in the matter.

The case has been scheduled for July 26 and July 27 2021 for hearing while Kanu has been remanded with the Department of State Services.

For years, Kanu had a running battle with the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, over his quest for the secession of the South-East geopolitical zone.

The Buhari regime had in September 2017 outlawed IPOB and declared that the activities of the group constituted an act of terrorism and illegality.

Before then, Kanu was arrested and jailed but was later released from the Kuje Prison in Abuja after meeting bail conditions. The IPOB leader later jumped bail and fled the country and operated from overseas before he was reportedly captured on Sunday.

IPOB had also formed the Eastern Security Network but the security outfit has no backing of the governors of the South-East. It has, therefore, been at loggerheads with state-authorised security agencies like the police and the army.

The police have also accused IPOB’s ESN operatives of being the masterminds of attacks on police stations, prisons and symbols of democracy in the zone.