FG apprehends IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu

The Federal Government has apprehended 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 disclosed this to reporters on Tuesday, stated that the IPOB leader, Kanu was arrested and brought back to Nigeria on Sunday.

Malami declared that the arrest followed a joint effort between security agencies in Nigeria and Interpol.

In the meantime, Kanu has been taken before the Federal High Court in Abuja to continue his trial on charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, illegal possession of firearms and management of an illegal society.

The IPOB leader was first charged 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, reprimanded 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.

The IPOB leader was finally released on bail by Justice Binta Nyako for health reasons. But he jumped bail and escaped out of the nation.

He disappeared from public view after his home was raided by the Nigerian military, in September 2017, an incident which led to the deaths of 28 IPOB members. Not being seen in public for over a year, there was wide-ranging assumption concerning his whereabouts, with members of the IPOB accusing the Buhari government of having kidnapped him.

Meanwhile, in October 2018, anonymous pictures and videos, evidently placing him in Israel, were extensively circulated on social media and this was later confirmed by mainstream media.