The federal government on Tuesday recorded a big win after the Nigeria security agencies collaborated with the International police to arrest wanted leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu. He has been on the run after he jumped bail.
Announcing the arrest of Kanu, Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami(SAN), revealed how Kanu was arrested and repatriated to Nigeria on Sunday, June 27, 2021.
He said the arrest followed a collaborative effort between the Nigerian security agencies and the international police (Interpol).
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, who made the disclosure to journalists on Tuesday, revealed that Kano was arrested and brought back to Nigeria on Sunday through joint efforts of the security agencies in Nigeria and the Interpol.
He said the arrest followed a collaborative effort between security agencies in Nigeria and the Interpol.
In another development, another online newspaper said Kanu was captured after Nigeria’s attorney general, Abubakar Malami wrote to the Ethiopian government through the ministry of foreign affairs alerting the Ethiopian authority that Kanu, a wanted fugitive was in their country.
The government also contacted INTERPOL for assistance in arresting and extraditing Kanu to Nigeria to face his charges.
He was intercepted last weekend and immediately repatriated to Nigeria. Kanu was on Tuesday arraigned in court and remanded in DSS custody. His case was adjourned till July 26, 2021.
It will be recalled that Kanu jumped bail in 2019 and has been on the run since. He is currently facing charges of treasonable felony which carries death penalty.
Malami further disclosed that his trial and charges bordered on terrorism, treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and management of an unlawful society.
According to a source close to the presidency, Kanu was said to have earlier escaped arrest in United Kingdom after security operative went for him following a petition by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to United Kingdom seeking his repatriation to Nigeria.
In 2017, Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra were declared a terrorist group by President Muhammadu Buhari and he was apprehended by security operatives.
Kanu was facing a treason and terrorism charges before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and was granted bail in April 2017 on health grounds. As part of the bail conditions, Kanu was required to produce three sureties who would sign a bail bond of N100 million which they would stand to forfeit should the accused person jump bail.
Kanu was subsequently released on bail and the following persons stood surety for him: Enyinnaya Abaribe, the Senator representing Abia South Senatorial District.
However, Kanu’s whereabouts have been unknown since September 2017, when Nigerian soldiers allegedly raided his home in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, following the proscription if the IPOB by the federal government.
Kanu has caused reactions as a result of his continuous controversial statements for the alleged freedom of the Igbo people and the setting up of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) which has created a lot of controversy and chaos in Nigeria.
Just recently, a coalition of 75 Northern groups under the aegis of Northern Consensus Movement has placed N100 million bounty for anybody who could produce the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, for him to continue his trial over alleged treason.
The group specifically accused Kanu and IPOB militant wing, Eastern Security Network of masterminding the recent spate of attacks on Northern communities in the South Eastern Nigeria.
The declaration came one week after the declaration by Igbo Elders Council that more than 5,000 Igbo youths have been killed and over 10,000 others, thrown into detention camps in the ongoing special security operation in the South-East.
