The Federal government has arrested the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, disclosed this to newsmen today June 29. Kanu was arrested in the UK and extradited to Abuja.
According to Malami, Kanu’s arrest followed a collaborative effort between security agencies in Nigeria and Interpol. He further disclosed that Kanu would be taken before the Federal High Court in Abuja for the continuation of his trial on charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and management of an unlawful society.
Kanu was granted bail in April 2017 on health grounds but skipped bail after flouting some of the conditions given to him by the court. He has been on the run since then. Justice Binta Nyako who granted his bail on grounds of his ill health later revoked it on March 28, 2019 and issued a Bench warrant for his arrest in any part of the country.
He has also been on the run since then after soldiers raided his father’s residence in Abia state.
IPOB was later declared a terrorist group by the defence headquarters and court after the south-east governors proscribed it.
Despite the court’s insistence on his appearance, the IPOB leader has remained abroad, and once said he jumped bail to pursue the cause of Biafra.
“Their problem is Nnamdi Kanu and the solution to their problem is referendum. They gave me conditional bail to cage me and IPOB but I refused,” he had said during a broadcast.