Follow Us on Google
- Insists conviction etethnically motivated
From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has strongly rebuked attempts to equate its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, with Yoruba activist Sunday Igboho, describing such comparisons as “intellectual garbage” and a reflection of ethnic bias in Nigeria’s judicial process.
In a press release issued on February 18, 2026, by its Directorate of Media and Publicity, IPOB, through its spokesperson Comrade Emma Powerful, accused President Ahmed Tinubu’s aide, Sunday Dare, of attempting to whitewash what it called the “judicial persecution” of Kanu.
The group argued that Kanu’s case differs fundamentally from Igboho’s, asserting that Kanu is a “towering liberator” fighting for the restoration of Biafra, while Igboho is merely a self-determination agitator.
IPOB further alleged that Kanu’s conviction was a “predetermined Yoruba affair,” citing the involvement of a Yoruba judge, prosecutors, and Attorney-General under Tinubu’s administration.
It warned that history would vindicate Kanu, likening him to global freedom icons such as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., who were once labeled terrorists by oppressive regimes.
The group also highlighted the role of its Eastern Security Network (ESN) in curbing insecurity in the South-East, contrasting it with rising violence in Yorubaland. It urged Yoruba leaders to reflect on their own history, referencing Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s treasonable felony conviction in 1963, and cautioned against double standards in judging freedom fighters.
IPOB maintained that Biafra’s liberation remains unstoppable and that attempts to silence Kanu would only strengthen its resolve.
His statement reads in part” This desperate attempt by one Sunday Dare, a Tinubu aide, to whitewash the obvious ethnic bias and judicial persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not only laughable but exposes the depth of Yoruba-led ethnic desperation to justify an unjust conviction.
“We agree with the Tinubu aide on one point only: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho are NOT in the same league. One is a towering liberator fighting for the restoration of the sovereign state of Biafra; the other is an ordinary self-determination agitator whose activities never posed any existential threat to the Nigerian state. The comparison itself is an insult to the intellect of every reasonable person.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not “ordinary Sunday Igboho.” He is in the league of global freedom icons who were once labelled criminals and terrorists by oppressive regimes.
“Let us remind the author and the Tinubu aide of history, since selective amnesia seems to be their stock in trade:
Chief Obafemi Awolowo, undisputed Yoruba leader and hero, was convicted in 1963 of treasonable felony – a far graver charge than what they pinned on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Other News
“He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment with hard labour. Yet today, Yoruba people proudly call him their leader, name streets after him, and build statues in his honour. No one calls him a “terrorist” today. Why the double standard when it comes to an Igbo freedom fighter?
“Nelson Mandela was convicted and imprisoned for 27 years as a “terrorist” by the apartheid regime for fighting white minority oppression. Today he is a global icon.
“Mahatma Gandhi was convicted for sedition multiple times by the British.
Martin Luther King Jr was jailed nearly 30 times for his civil rights struggle.
Malcolm X served prison time before rising as a voice of black liberation.
Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe faced sedition charges.
“Kwame Nkrumah was imprisoned by the British colonialists.
Even Julius Nyerere faced libel charges that could have sent him to prison.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu stands in this same esteemed company of freedom fighters who were criminalised by the very systems they sought to dismantle. History always vindicates such men. The Tinubu aide and his propagandists should be ashamed for attempting to rewrite this universal truth.
“The conviction of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was a predetermined Yoruba affair from start to finish: a Yoruba judge (James Omotosho from Abeokuta), Yoruba prosecutors, a Yoruba Attorney-General of the Federation, all acting under the directive of a Yoruba-led executive government headed by President Bola Tinubu. What other outcome could anyone expect? A fair trial? In that ethnic cabal? Impossible.
“While they celebrate this kangaroo conviction, let the Yoruba nation face reality: it is the timely formation of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu that has kept Fulani killer herdsmen and terrorists from turning the East into the killing field that Yorubaland has become. The same insecurity they downplayed and ignored when Mazi Nnamdi Kanu warned the nation years ago has now reached even the village of their own Justice James Omotosho. The chickens have come home to roost. Perhaps now they will understand why Onyendu’s warnings could not be ignored.
“If not for the backstabbing treachery of some Igbo politicians who sold their birthright for plates of porridge, no sensible person would even attempt to equate the liberator of Biafra with any other agitator. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has come to save and liberate Biafra.
“He is not a product of the colonial system that sees Biafra as a threat to Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy. He is a special breed , a man of destiny whose name will echo through generations long after Tinubu and his aides are forgotten.
“Every Yoruba person, including President Tinubu himself, must remember that their own Chief Obafemi Awolowo was a convicted felon for treasonable felony, yet he led the Yoruba race with dignity. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will do far greater things for his people even from their unjust detention”. Powerful stated.
