The Nigerian authorities announced on Tuesday (June 29) that they had arrested the leader of the independent movement Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. He was arrested on Sunday and “taken back to Nigeria” according to the country’s justice minister. Nnamdi Kanu appeared in a court in Abuja on Tuesday that approved his detention until his “terrorism” trial began on July 26.
as reported from Lagos, Liza Fabbian
After four years on the run, Nnamdi Kanu seems handcuffed but visibly healthy in the photos released on Tuesday. The Attorney General did not specify in which country exactly the independence leader was “intercepted”.
Nnamdi Kanu had already been arrested in 2015 for treason and imprisoned for more than a year. He then used a release on bail to disappear, just after the security forces raided.
He returned twelve months later in Jerusalem, since 2019 in the UK, while still being very active on Twitter and on his online radio.
“I fled Nigeria to save my life,” he told the Abuja court on Tuesday, which heard him in the absence of his lawyer.
As of July 26, Nnamdi Kanu has to answer 11 charges, including terrorism, illegal possession of weapons and the management of an illegal company.
The Attorney General recalled on Tuesday that he was “accused of inciting violence, especially in south-eastern Nigeria”, which resulted in the destruction of civilian and military buildings and state symbols.
A few months ago, the IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) set up an armed wing, called the Eastern Security Network (ESN), which is suspected to be the origin of an outbreak. Violence in the region.
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