IPOB suspends Nnamdi Kanu as leader

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has announced the suspension of the Office of its Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, as well as the position of Director of Radio Biafra.

The decision was reached during a comprehensive meeting of the organisation’s Directorate on Wednesday, where members reviewed intelligence reports concerning messages allegedly originating from Kanu while in detention at Sokoto prison.

In a statement released on Thursday by the Head of IPOB’s Directorate of State, Mazi Chikadibia Edoziem, the group disclosed that the Directorate of State (DOS) would now assume full responsibility for managing the organisation’s affairs and directing its activities.

The leadership body stressed that IPOB was “formed and nurtured by a group of Biafrans in the Diaspora (not by any singular individual)” and maintained that the Directorate of State remains the highest decision-making structure within the movement, beyond the authority of any single person to dissolve.

According to the statement, the action became necessary after the leadership became “mindful that certain unguarded communications from Sokoto prison to those in Biafraland has caused unnecessary arrests and death of IPOB family members in Biafraland.”

IPOB further expressed concern over the close monitoring of Kanu’s visitors and interactions by the Department of State Services (DSS). The group also cited reports of an alleged attempt by some individuals to establish a new militia, warning that such a move could reignite violence in the South-East.

The organisation explained that the suspension was intended to “prevent unchecked actions, reckless assumption of authority and unguarded utterances from resulting in the reckless arrests, torture and needless death of Biafran youths.”

It also stated that any unlawful actions carried out under the authority of the suspended office would no longer be attributed to IPOB, adding that “IPOB shall hence forward not be held accountable for actions of individuals or groups of Individuals not holding any active position within IPOB.”

The latest development comes shortly after reports emerged that Kanu had dissolved the organisation’s 3rd Directorate of State administration.

Following that move, Kanu was said to have inaugurated a 4th Directorate of State administration and appointed United States-based Mazi Chris Nwaọgụ as its new leader.

A statement issued by IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful indicated that Nwaọgụ had been assigned responsibility for overseeing the administration, coordination and daily operations of the movement under Kanu’s authority.

The Directorate of State was established by Kanu in 2012 as IPOB’s administrative structure. Over the years, it has been headed by Dr. Justin Akujieze in the United States, Mazi Uchenna Asiegbu in Spain, and Chika Edoziem in Switzerland, who assumed leadership of the third administration in March 2017 during Kanu’s earlier detention at Kuje Prison.