Northern Consensus Movement places bounty of N100m on Nnamdi Kanu declaring him wanted

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has been declared wanted by the Northern Consensus Movement (NCM) who have placed a bounty of N100m ($243,000) on his head saying they will hand him over to the security agents when captured.

Over recent weeks, there has been increased insecurity in the southeast geo-political zone involving bloody clashes between the security forces and Ipob. In addition, Ipob's armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), has been accused of attacking police stations, prisons and Independent National Electoral Commission offices, raising them to the ground.

In a brutal response to the violence, security forces have conducted house-to-house raids across the southeast, carrying out mass arrests. With tension at an all-time high, the NCM has heightened the stakes  by declaring Mr Kanu wanted over the killings and destruction of properties owned by northerners across the southeast.

NCM president Dr Auwal Abdullahi, said Mr Kanu should be captured and brought to them for onward handing over to security agents. He accused Mr Kanu of using Ipob and the ESN, to attack northerners residing in the southeast.

Dr Abdullahi added: “We are declaring Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Ipob and ESN wanted for the killings, destructions of properties of northerners residing and undertaking their lawful businesses in the south eastern part of Nigeria. We call on all countries of the world to respect our sovereignty as a nation.

"Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Ipob, is the man and brain behind the killings and destruction of properties belonging to innocent northerners residing in southeastern Nigeria carrying out their legitimate businesses, using his proscribed terrorist organisation, Ipob/ESN. Northern Consensus Movement with these organisations has placed a bounty of N100m as an offer to anyone who can produce Nnamdi Kanu alive, hale and hearty to us for onward delivery to security agencies for continuous prosecution.”

In addition, the NCM urged the US and German governments to repatriate Mr Kanu back to Nigeria to face trial. Mr Kanu has been in exile since jumping bail in September 2017 when he was faces trial for treason.

His supporters have been accused of attacking northerners living in the southeast lately in response to killings carried out by Fulani cattle herders in the region. Heavily armed, these herdsmen ransack villages when farmers complain about how their livestock damage their crops.