Nnamdi Kanu arrest leave Nigeria Ipob separatists in confusion

An Ipob member with raised fist

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Before im arrest Nnamdi Kanu bin don grow Ipob into global organisation wit protest marches such as dis one for Italy

Di arrest of Nigerian separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu don hand serious blow to e group, and fit even mark di end of e movement.

Di leader of di Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), wey be group wey want breakaway state for south-east Nigeria, remain cult hero to im many followers.

For more than a decade, im staunch radio broadcasts and social media posts bin be something wey Nigerian government frown at but e transition to armed struggle for 2020 come begin look like step wey don go too far.

Di armed department of Ipob – di Eastern Security Network – dey face accuse say dem kill at least 60 pipo in recent months, most of dem police officers, although di group deny di allegations.

Oga Kanu arrest on Sunday dey seen as di final act by Nigeria government wey dey determined to stop di uprising.

Di images of e arrest, more than anything else, go don seriously undermine di confidence of even e die-hard supporters.

Dis no be di first time dem go parade di 53-year-old Jewish convert in handcuffs, but unlike previous occasions im customary resistance bin dey missing. Im days-old grey beard give am untidy look something wey even e Fendi designer clothes no fit hide.

Some pipo don argue say Kanu turn di organisation into one-man show, as im shun some of e most trusted followers, and so now leadership vacuum don dey for Ipob.

“Money disagreement and accusations say im no consult key stakeholders over di formation of armed wing no go down well with many,” na BBC Igbo Chiagozie Nwonwu, wey interview Kanu for 2019 while e dey for exile tok.

One of those wey fall out with Kanu and later comot from di organisation last year na e former deputy, Uche Mefor, a respected member of di group wey take over wen di leader bin previously dey locked up.

Allegations of misappropriation of funds wey pipo donate don also lead to di exit of loyal supporters for US and UK.

Locally, di spine of di movement also fit don go, as battle-hardened members don either chop arrest or Nigeria security forces don kill dem.

Deep-rooted sentiments remain

Many bin see Kanu as dangerous propagandist, but some also consider am as lightning-rod for di unhappiness many Igbos still feel about Nigeria, decades after three-year civil war between 1967 and 1970.

Many Igbos feel say dem dey sidelined for Nigerian politics and cries of marginalisation don comot from di south-east.

Di Igbo’s wey be Nigeria third-largest ethnic group, dey yet to produce president since di 1960s and accuse dem accuse di federal government of neglect for their region.

Dis feelings don increase since President Muhammadu Buhari enter power for 2015, and tins wey im don tok about pipo from di region never help di matter.

Im recently reference di civil war as im vow to crush Ipob, dis one make Twitter delete e tweet, and in di past im tok say those wey give am 5% of votes [such as di south-east] make dem no expect di same treatment as those wey give am 95%.

Such comments na im help propel Kanu, wey many bin no know before despite e radio broadcasts, to fame.

Any other president for don ignore am but not Buhari, wey be former military general wey dey famous for suffering no indiscipline even from civilians when im rule in di 1980s.

Dem nin arrest Kanu for 2015 when e return to Nigeria but dis only boost e profile.

Di man wey many Nigerians bin don dismiss say e just dey raise dust, even within e own ethnic group, become di most talked about Igbo person.

Those wey know am say na di kind attention im bin want and once dem release am on bail for 2017 e no ever look back.

Mysterious escape

Im form di Biafran Security Services (BSS), wey be mock militia wey dey wear black and dem hold parades for di eastern city of Abia, e home state.

Im verbal attack increase, e accuse di president of harbouring plans to Islamise Nigeria and tok say President Buhari don dey replaced by another pesin – Jubril from Sudan.

Oga Buhari come feel say e don enough and after court proscribe Ipob as terrorist organisation, di army takeover, dem carry out attack on Kanu home for September 2017.

Im mysteriously escape.

Many bin tink say dat go be di end, but he reappear for Europe for 2018 and di radio broadcasts resumed, dis time e focus on Nigeria’s farmers-herders crisis to fan ethnic tensions for kontri.



Last year, Kanu see opening for di #EndSars protests against police brutality but many believe dis become di start of e downfall.

As thugs hijack di demonstrations across Nigeria, oga Kanu order e supporters to attack police stations.

For someone wey bin don openly dey against armed struggle for di early days of Ipob, e dey hard to know wetin change.

Many suspect say di 2017 attack on e house and death of members influence e decision to arm di group.

Men in black clothes and red berets

ESN

For late 2020 im resurrect di BSS and rename am Eastern Security Network (ESN).

While BSS bin be mock militia, ESN bin dey closer to di real deal.

Members, wey dey dressed in black attire and red berets, bin collect training for di south-east forests, chain of command bin dey, and more importantly dem bin get AK-47 rifles wey dem bin don steal from police stations.

Between September 2020 and May 2021, wave of attacks on police stations and other public facilities for di south-east bin happen something wey authorities blame on Ipob.

For March, di army enter south-east come begin take out ESN camps and commanders, dem turn di region on e head.

For most pipo, especially young pipo wey dey sympathetic to di Ipob cause, di army operation come as eye-opener about wetin war look like.

Businesses bin dey closed, curfews imposed and pipo waka with their hands above their heads when dem approach army checkpoints.

At this point, sentiments start to turn against Ipob and dia leader and wit e arrest, im join other Igbo separatists wey don lose against di Nigerian state.

But im dey unlikely to be di last until government address di root cause of di grievances wey many wey dey live for south-eastern Nigeria dey feel.