Kanu, a pro-Biafra leader whose arrest sparked a wave of protests across Nigeria’s southeast has told AFP from jail he is a “prisoner of conscience” and vowed to realise his dream of an independent state.
The pro-Biafran is accused by the federal government of “propagating a secessionist agenda” with the intention to “levy war against Nigeria”.
Kanu, who also runs the London-based Radio Biafra, is facing charges of treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society and illegally shipping radio equipment into the country.
He has been in custody since his arrest in October, despite being granted bail, and denied all charges.
His arrest and continued detention has made him a figurehead for his supporters, whose repeated marches in the southeast have increasingly led to clashes with the police.
“Biafra has come to stay,” Kanu told AFP in a text message via his brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, who met him on Thursday in Kuje prison on the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital Abuja.
“They will kill us but by the end Biafra will come,” the 48-year-old added. “I am a prisoner of conscience and killing unarmed Biafran protesters is a crime against humanity.”
“We have been failed in so many ways,” Kanu said, describing Igbos as “third class citizens”, echoing many in the region who say they are still being punished for the civil war.
Kanu, who has described Nigeria as a “zoo” which “has to come to an end”, was a relative unknown before his arrest.
But President Muhammadu Buhari, facing security threats from Boko Haram in the northeast and an uneasy peace in the oil-producing south, has said Kanu poses a threat to Nigeria’s fragile unity.
In December, a finger-wagging Buhari said Kanu committed “atrocities” against Nigeria, adding “there’s a treasonable felony against him and I hope the court will listen to the case”.
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