Apex socio-political group in Igbo land, the Igbo Political Network (IPN), has joined prominent Nigerians to call for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
This is as the Igbo said it has invoked Amadioha (the god of thunder) to, within seven days, strike to death those responsible for the incarceration of the Biafra leader, adding it smacked of wickedness for Kanu to perpetually suffer in prison while those who were supposed to intervene treat the situation with levity.
President of the Igbo Political Network, Chief Alex Okemiri, stated this in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State, on Tuesday.
He said, “The honest truth is that the time to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has come. It smacks of injustice and wickedness to continue to detain him even when competent courts of jurisdiction have ordered for his release. So, we are no longer begging for his release; he must be allowed to go. He should be released.
“Nationally and internationally, the continual detention of Nnamdi Kanu is viewed as an organized ploy to frustrate his inalienable fundamental human right and an open declaration that the Igbos are being treated as second-class citizens. And the question remains: if known criminals, terrorists and bandits, drug barons and murderers are set free from the prison in Nigeria, why the continuous detention of Nnamdi Kanu?
“This is why we, at the Igbo Political Network (IPN), have come to conclude, without equivocation, that his present ordeal is masterminded by selfish Igbo leaders and politicians. Yes, insinuations abound that they are external collaborators to continually hold Kanu behind bars. And to some extent, we agree to these allegations because it’s the rat at home that tells the one in the bush that there’s fish at home. Igbo leaders are working against the release of Nnamdi Kanu for their selfish interest.”
He further observed that if competent courts of jurisdiction, including a Kenyan ruling, declared the Biafra leader innocent, his continuous detention was an illegality.
“To further buttress the seeming injustice meted towards the detained IPOB leader, a High Court of Kenya sitting in Nairobi, in June 2025, declared Kanu’s detention and transfer from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 as unlawful and illegal. So why not let Nnamdi Kanu? The court even awarded compensatory damages of 10 million Kenyan shillings against the Kenyan government for gross violations of Kanu’s fundamental rights.”
He added, “Also, prominent Nigerians including Prof. Wole Soyinka; pro-democracy crusader and activist Omoyele Sowore; a legal practitioner, Tunder Akingbondere; and some ethnic nationalities and organizations such as the Igbo Professional and Economic Development Association (IPEDA) have called for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.
“In his words to the BBC, Soyinka said, and I quote, ‘…For me, was it right to have kidnapped [him]? You can say intercepted as much as you want, but for me, Kanu was kidnapped, and that is wrong internationally, and it is wrong morally. It is not for me to tell the Nigerian government to prepare itself because there is going to be a huge squawk when the truth about how Kanu was arrested becomes public. We have to ask ourselves, what is the position politically, economically, mentally, spiritually? What is the collective state of mind of a vast section of this nation at the moment? And that state of mind is best described as distrust, total distrust….'”
Chiding Kanu’s kinsmen, the IPN boss said, “Therefore, amid seeming tension and reported deteriorating Nnamdi Kanu’s health in DSS custody, we expected the Igbo leaders and politicians to follow suit in lending their voices for his release. But they have not done this due to their selfish interest. There’s no problem.
“However, the Igbo Political Network (IPN) has today, Monday, November 3rd, 2025, given those behind the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu seven days (that’s one week) ultimatum to release him. And if between November 7th and November 13th, 2025, Nnamdi Kanu is not set free or is not allowed to go, we have invoked Amadioha (the god of thunder) to strike all of them behind his continuous detention and ordeal dead.
“And for those who know what to do for the Biafra leader to be released and have not done so, but are folding their arms and treating the situation with kid gloves, if by November 31st they don’t go for his release we will invoke Amadioha (the god of thunder) to strike them down.”
