Ipob director of strategy Olisa Mbakwe says Nnamdi Kanu has been relieved of his position

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has been relieved of his position for showing contempt to the members of the association killed during the Nigerian Army's attack on his compound last year by only regretting the death of his dog.

Last week, Mr Kanu appeared praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem after fleeing from Nigeria in November 2017 following an attack on his compound in Umuahia by the Nigerian Army.  His sudden appearance created a lot of excitement among his followers campaigning for secession from Nigeria and on Sunday, Mr Kanu ratcheted up the pressure further with a live broadcast in which he called on Ndigbo to boycott next year's general elections unless it included a referendum on the creation of Biafra.

In the broadcast, Mr Kanu lamented the fact that Nigerian troops killed his dog Jack during the raid, saying he mourned his dog and a few other people who lost their lives during the attack. Olisa Mbakwe, Ipob's director of strategy and documentation, said Mr Kanu was an insensitive and callous leader who has no value for his own followers but rather his dog, Jack whom he paid tributes to after his long disappearance from the struggle.

Mr Mbakwe said that subsequently, Mr Kanu has been sacked as the broadcast was a clear indication that he prefers his dog to those murdered in the struggle for the realisation of Biafra. He also referred to Mr Kanu as a traitor not worthy of any leadership position anywhere in the world.

Mr Kanu had said: "The army of the zoo killed my dog Jack and a few other people in my compound. I am sorry for what my sureties are passing through but I want to assure them that they will have a special place in Biafra and I shall not be honouring the court."

Last year, Ipob's international media arm had announced Mr Kanu's sack in 2017, noting that he was dismissed and removed as the director of Radio Biafra following extensive and intensive consultations. One if the reasons for which Mr Kanu was removed include personalisation of the Biafran struggle and derailing from the core objectives of Ipob as a grassroots movement.

Mr Mbakwe added: "On Sunday, October 21, 2018, an individual, Mazi Nnamdi Nwanekaenyi Kanu, claiming to be the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) and the director-general of Radio Biafra made a live broadcast that has left us perplexed because it is unthinkable that someone will impersonate Ipob to the point of plotting to abuse the organisation to hurt the interest of Biafra. The strength of the Republic of Biafra that we are struggling to actualise, is in its human resources as embodied in our versatile youths that dominate the fields of play across sectors of human endeavour, the country we have set our vision on creating is therefore not to be made up of tombstones but of people fulfilling their life missions as ordained by God.

“Nnamdi Kanu relinquished his position as the leader of Ipob struggle the day he deserted our members to die, when they had mobilized to stand for our belief in Biafra at his residence in Afaraukwu. Several of our members were injured and some died in that encounter and even after emerging from hiding more than one year later all Kanu could do was to desecrate their memory with his radio broadcast but Nnamdi Kanu vividly, specifically and particularly recalled his family dog, Jack, by name while he dismissed our members that died as mere statistics, as  he only recalled them as 28 Ipob members."

“Even if Kanu had not deserted, there is no way we would have continued under the leadership of a man that values his family dog more than Biafrans. We are not unmindful of how Kanu struck the deal that granted him bail in the first place while abandoning our members Benjamin Madubugwu, David Nwawusi, Bright Chimezie Ishinwa and Chidiebere Onwudiwe to languish in jail."

He said that instead of using his freedom to accelerate the freedom of these authentic freedom fighters, Mr Kanu rather went about Biafraland receiving obeisance from Biafrans like a monarch, when the land is completely republican. According to Mr Mbakwe, Mazi Ezenwachukwu Sampson Okwudili is the new director for Radio Biafra.