The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has lashed out at South-East leaders, making public appeals to Bola Tinubu to grant a pardon to its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, describing the moves as shameful and a betrayal of justice.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, IPOB said such requests misrepresent Kanu’s case and weaken the fight for the rule of law.
The group was reacting to comments credited to former Lagos lawmaker Jude Idimogu, who reportedly urged Tinubu to release Kanu as a political move to boost the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections and to stimulate the South-East economy.
IPOB condemned the appeal, calling it “self-serving opportunism and betrayal,” and insisted that Kanu’s situation is a matter of unlawful detention, not clemency. “Let us be unequivocally clear: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not a criminal in need of pardon. He is a prisoner of conscience, unlawfully abducted from Kenya on June 27, 2021, in blatant violation of Kenyan sovereignty, Nigeria’s Extradition Act 2004, and international treaties,” Powerful stated.
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The group pointed to a Kenyan High Court judgment declaring Kanu’s arrest illegal, as well as an October 13, 2022, ruling of the Nigerian Court of Appeal, which discharged him and held that no Nigerian court had jurisdiction to try him because of his extraordinary rendition. IPOB said that decision amounted to a final acquittal under Nigerian law.
It dismissed the Supreme Court’s December 15, 2023, decision ordering a retrial as a “nullity” that breaches Section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits trying a person twice for the same offense. The group further argued that the terrorism charges against Kanu were based on repealed laws without any saving clause, citing precedents in A.G. Federation v. A.G. Abia State (2002) and Okeke v. State (2019).
According to IPOB, the ongoing trial before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, is “void ab initio” for lack of jurisdiction. “Begging Tinubu reinforces dictatorship and autocracy, portraying Nigeria as a lawless fiefdom where executive whims trump judicial finality,” Powerful said. “It signals weakness to our oppressors, implying Kanu is guilty when the law has exonerated him. IPOB warns all well-meaning individuals, Igbo leaders, and the public: Cease this degrading pleading immediately. It does not bode well for the rule of law; it smacks of complicity in state-sponsored terrorism and judicial banditry.”
The group urged South-Easterners, other Nigerians, and the international community to push for Kanu’s unconditional release through protests, legal action, and diplomatic pressure. “Those who continue begging will be seen as enablers of oppression; history will judge you harshly,” Powerful warned.
Kanu, who has faced terrorism-related charges since 2015, was granted bail in 2017 before leaving Nigeria. He was rearrested in 2021 in a move widely criticized by human rights organizations as an illegal rendition.
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