TELL Magazine

The leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB Nnamdi Kanu, has been rearrested. He was deported from the United Kingdom, UK apparently on an arrangement between Nigeria and the UK.

Abubakar Malami, federal attorney general and minister of justice, announced this in Abuja at a press conference on Tuesday.

Kanu had fled Nigeria since 2017, jumping bail in the process. That had put Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, who stood surety for him, under pressure.

Justice Binta Nyako who granted him bail on the ground of ill-health, had March 28, 2019, revoked the bail and issued a bench warrant for his arrest in any part of Nigeria. There had been a manhunt for him ever since. The IPOB leader was in court for sundry charges, notably treason.

Malami, senior advocate of Nigeria, SAN said the arrest followed a collaborative effort between security agencies in Nigeria and the Interpol.

He further stated that Kanu would be taken before the Federal High Court in Abuja for continuation of his trial on charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and management of an unlawful society.

Kanu, whose family is in London, holds dual citizenship and hardly stays in Nigeria. He is the brain behind Radio Biafra on which he contemptuously referred to Nigeria as a “zoo”.