BIAFRA: Nnamdi Kanu not in our custody; Army fires back at IPOB

 authorities of the Nigerian Army have declared that the leader of the proscribed In­digenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was not in their custody. The Army described as untrue and misleading, al­legations in some quarters that Kanu was arrested by soldiers who invaded his house in Abia State. 

The Army Public Re­lations Officer, Major Gb­adamosi Oyegoke, said on Tuesday that he was not au­thorised to comment on the matter, but urged The AU­THORITY to contact those “in charge of the Operation Python Dance II in Abia.” 

When our correspondent contacted the affected offic­er, he simply said: “Kanu is not in Army custody.” The officer’s reaction was prompted by the de­mand by Kanu’s family that the Nigerian Army should produce him because his whereabouts remain un­known to them since the September 14, 2017 mili­tary raid on their house at Afaraukwu Umuahia. 

Kanu’s younger broth­er, Prince Emma Kanu, who made the call yesterday, said that he strongly believed that his brother was “captured” by the army during the raid. He said that he had no doubt that his brother was in the custody of the army and urged the military to release him to the police. “It is either they (sol­diers) captured him or killed him when they attacked our house. If they captured him, they should release him to the police, and if they killed him, they should produce the corpse because he was last seen moments before the raid,” he said. 

Emma further alleged that the whereabouts of his par­ents, Eze Israel Kanu, and Lolo Sally Kanu, had remained un­known since the attack. He said that the family had been searching for the IPOB leader and his parents after the military attack without success. Traditional rulers in Ibekuland had last week asked the army to produce the mon­arch, whom they said they had not seen after the invasion of his residence. 

Kanu’s younger brother who said the family had re­mained in shock over the at­tack, called on the interna­tional community to prevail on the Nigerian Army to pro­duce his parents and the IPOB leader.