The demand for Kanu’s release and agitation for a political solution to the IPOB issue must be rooted in fairness, objectivity, tact and good faith conversation, not reckless sentimentality and disgraceful rhetoric that canonise him and downplay his calamitous and nefarious actions that destroy the lives of thousands of people.
The issue of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra, and his band of fellow misguided journeymen separatists has become a debilitating fishbone that is stuck in the throat of the Nigerian state, hard to swallow and equally difficult to spit out. In recent days, there have been growing calls and relentless agitation for the release of the embattled secessionist. This campaign is spearheaded by popular activist and journalist, Omoyele Sowore.
After fleeing Nigeria in 2017 following a deadly raid on his home in Abia State by the Nigerian security forces, Kanu fled to London, where he continued his vicious and destructive campaign of hate and sedition against the Nigerian state using the infamous Radio Biafra. This dangerous, divisive and abhorrent rhetoric plunges the South East region, an enclave largely hitherto immune to the violence and upheaval that envelops most parts of Nigeria, into chaos and instability. Bloodshed, wanton killings, violent attacks and social upheavals became the order of the day. His campaign of mayhem and destabilisation turned the nation’s most thriving commercial region into a dormant and soulless entity. It stunts its growth and destroys its socio-economic ecosystem.
In 2021, after nearly half a decade of evading the Nigerian authorities, he was arrested in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria in an extraordinary rendition. His repatriation to the country marked the beginning of a long, winding, arduous and torturous prosecution that will see him stand trial for terrorism in Nigerian courts. What was supposed to be a straightforward, open and shut case of terrorism and sedition has not only brought to the fore the weakness of the Nigerian system but has become a metaphor for institutional vindictiveness, impunity, and, some will say, incompetence.
Since his trial began in 2021, the limits of Nigerian jurisprudence have been tested, and the boundaries of the constitution have been stretched. The Court of Appeal had in 2022 discharged and acquitted Kanu, ruling that his extraordinary rendition from Kenya was unlawful and that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to try him. Despite the appellate ruling, the Department of State Security has continued to incarcerate Kanu. The Kanu case has unnecessarily dragged on largely because of the weakness of the Nigerian system. The way the case has been handled has forced some staunch critics of Kanu, who have castigated, vilified and denounced his actions and cause, to change their position about him and become sympathetic to his ordeal.
The treatment of Kanu and the handling of his trial leave a sour taste in one’s mouth when juxtaposed with the trial of his fellow comrade, Simon Ekpa, whose harmful rhetoric and unconscionable narratives helped wreak havoc in the South East. After years propagating hateful, dangerous and destabilising messages of secession from his base in Finland, Epka was arrested and detained by the Finnish authorities last November. He was subsequently arraigned on charges of terrorism and other related offences. On September 1 2025, Ekpa was sentenced to six years after he was found guilty of the charges against him. There is no distinction between Kanu and Ekpa in moral and legal culpability for the atrocities committed by their foot soldiers in the last five years. So, if it took the Finnish authorities less than ten months, from the day of his arrest, to secure the conviction and sentencing of Ekpa, why has the Nigerian government not been able to do the same for Kanu in nearly half a decade?
Since the federal government is not making any headway legally and appears to have hit a prosecutorial wall in the Kanu trial, many Nigerians have begun to demand his release. However, we must not allow the call for his release to drown out the magnitude and enormity of his barbarism and heinous crimes. Sowore is one of the leading figures clamouring for the release of Kanu. However, the premise he has built his agitation on is at best inconsiderate and at worst distasteful. According to him, Kanu should be released because he has done nothing wrong. This is not only false, it’s repulsive and abhorrent. Because the Nigerian government has somehow bungled Kanu’s trial, turning it into an embarrassing national spectacle, does not automatically delegitimise and undo his tyranny and atrocities, nor does it exonerate him from them. To think otherwise is to scoff at those who have had to and still bear the brunt of the upheaval and chaos that Kanu’s abominable decrees engendered. Such a narrative cheapens the memories of those who are victims of his depravity and pisses on the graves of those whose deaths are a direct result of his evil antics.
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has also made a case for Kanu’s release, but unlike the ignoble and horrible excuse that Sowore hinged his call on, Atiku’s justification is compelling and logical. He asked the government to release Kanu since it has been unable to prove the case against him, leading to a needlessly prolonged trial, and may have also run afoul of the law during his rendition. The demand for Kanu’s release and agitation for a political solution to the IPOB issue must be rooted in fairness, objectivity, tact and good faith conversation, not reckless sentimentality and disgraceful rhetoric that canonise him and downplay his calamitous and nefarious actions that destroy the lives of generations of people.
Additionally, the government exposed itself to avoidable public opprobrium with its handling of Kanu’s trial in the context of how it has managed the deepening security crisis in the country and how it has treated other criminals and murderous cretins who have unleashed terror on fellow Nigerians and wreaked unbelievable havoc on the country. The government lost the moral battle the moment it began to rehabilitate terrorists and reintegrate them into the very society where they had committed unspeakable atrocities. The government cannot in good conscience claim to be fighting terrorism when it is negotiating, organising retreat and capacity building workshops for terrorists arrested in other parts of the country. The government did not cover itself in glory.
Furthermore, resorting to a political solution and settlement for the IPOB and Kanu issue is a reasonable and profound course of action. It must, however, foreclose a return to the chaotic and destructive agitation fueled by money-seeking and power-hungry narcissists who turned South East to a hotbed of terror, subduing its industrious and enterprising sons and daughters at home while also alienating illustrious Igbos in the diaspora. It is not enough to demand for Kanu’s release, he must also show remorse, he must display genuine contrition and promise to eschew his eccentric tendencies and churlish disposition.
Finally, since we are now in the business of mollycoddling and breaking bread with terrorists across the Niger, we may as well extend such a troubling gesture to Kanu and release him. The charade of his prosecution, which is starting to look like a persecution, has gone on for too long. It is time to put an end to it.
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