29th June, 2021
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Federal Government has arrested the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), who made the disclosure to journalists on Tuesday, revealed that Kanu was arrested and brought back to Nigeria on Sunday.
Malami said Kanu would soon be brought before the Federal High Court where he jumped bail.
Kanu was first arraigned on 23 November 2015 in an Abuja Magistrate Court for the first time for charges of “criminal conspiracy, intimidation and membership of an illegal organisation” by Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS).
The charges violate “Section 97, 97B and 397” of Nigeria’s penal code. Chief Magistrate S. Usman had, at the last adjourned date, berated the Department of State Services (DSS) over its failure to produce Kanu in court on the two consecutive times the matter came up before the court.
Kanu was finally released on bail by Justice Binta Nyako for health reasons.
But he jumped bail and escaped out of the country.
Kanu disappeared from public view after his home was raided by the Nigerian military, in September 2017, an event which led to the deaths of 28 IPOB members. Not being seen in public for over a year, there was wide-ranging speculation regarding his whereabouts, with members of the IPOB accusing the Buhari government of having abducted him.
However, in October 2018, unattributed photographs and videos, apparently placing him in Israel, were widely circulated on social media and this was later confirmed by mainstream media.