Nnamdi Kanu Writes Simon Ekpa, Orders Him to End Sit-at-home in South-east

 

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of  Biafra (IPOB), has ordered a controversial Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa, to desist from issuing sit-at-home orders in the South-east.

Mr Ekpa was one of the lieutenants of Mr Kanu and has claimed to have taken over the leadership of IPOB following Mr Kanu’s incarceration.

Mr Kanu, in a handwritten letter to Mr Ekpa, asked the agitator to make a public announcement acknowledging receipt of the order from him.

Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to Mr Kanu, posted copies of the handwritten letter from the IPOB leader on his verified Twitter handleon Friday.

Mr Ejimakor, in a statement which accompanied the letter, said Mr Kanu wrote the letter on 24 July when he (Ejimakor) visited him at the facility of the State Security Service (SSS).

The lawyer said the IPOB leader instructed him to issue a press statement and make the letter public if Mr Ekpa failed to announce the end of the sit-at-home.

He said, after unsuccessful attempts, he reached Mr Ekpa at about 1:44 a.m. on 25 July and subsequently sent him a snapped copy of the “direct order” from Mr Kanu to completely stop the civil action in the region.

“He (Ekpa) therefore acknowledged receipt (of the order) and we spoke briefly on it and exchanged a couple of text messages thereof,” Mr Ejimakor said.

The special counsel said Mr Ekpa failed to implement the order which made Mr Kanu to authorise him (Ejimakor) to make the order public on Friday.

The IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES, Friday night, that Mr Kanu made the order himself.

Mr Kanu, in the letter, also ordered Mr Ekpa to stop antagonising governors and other political office holders in the region.

The exact words of the Mr Kanu have been reproduced below:

“Simon (Ekpa), this is a direct order from me. I hereby instruct you to desist from calling for any sit-at-home henceforth.

“Equally refrain from antagonising governors or persons in political positions because you are not in a position to know what they are doing on my behalf.

“I am ordering you to make a public announcement to the effect that you are in receipt of a direct order from me to cancel any pending or future sit-at-home order at the moment.

“I embarked on this movement to liberate our people, not to enslave them. I despise and will despise any person or entity that wishes to inflict unnecessary hardship on our people.

“I have authorised Aloy (Ejimakor) to issue a press statement if you fail to make this announcement on your platform.”

Simon Ekpa reacts

But reacting, Mr Ekpa described the letter as “fake.”

The Biafran agitator said attributing the letter to Mr Kanu was not only a “joke but an insult” taken too far.

“As the prime minister of Biafra under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, I call on all Biafrans to disregard the fake letter coming from the SSS. We can’t take any order from the Islamic SSS and that is final,” Mr Ekpa wrote on his verified Twitter handle on Friday night.

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu must be released and he must address Biafrans from Finland. That is the condition of the prime minister of Biafra and the Biafra Republican Government in Exile,” he added.

Background

IPOB, in August 2021, introduced a sit-at-home order every Monday across the South-east to pressure the Nigerian government to release its detained leader, Mr Kanu, who is facing terrorism trial at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The separatist group later suspended the order, in preference for it to be implemented only on days Mr Kanu appears in court.

But despite its suspension, residents of the five South-east states – Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra — have been observing the Monday sit-at-home order, mostly out of fear.

IPOB had repeatedly distanced itself from the Monday sit-at-home across the region, saying those who still enforce the order were criminals attempting to blackmail the separatist group.

Mr Ekpa, a leader of Autopilot, a faction of the IPOB, has continued to declare sit-at-home orders in the region despite being suspended by the IPOB faction led by Mr Kanu.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the south-east and some parts of the south-south Nigeria.

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