Dissatisfaction over the Nigerian State and the quest for sovereignty had led the late Biafran leader, Col. Chukwuemeka Ojukwu (retd.), to declare the exit of the Republic of Biafra from Nigeria in May 1967. The Biafran territory essentially comprised the South-East region of Nigeria.
The declaration led to a civil war that lasted two and half years as the Nigerian State under the then Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, battled to unify the soul of the country using state powers and military might.
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
The war ended in January 1970 with the South-East region back in Nigeria but the civil war left a ghoulish imprint on the Nigerian history with squalid tales of deaths, blood, hunger, horror, sorrow and more deaths.
However, decades later, secessionist agitations resurfaced in the South-East. The agitations, this time, are being championed by MASSOB leader, Ralph Uwazuruike; as well as his IPOB counterpart, Nnamdi Kanu, amongst other known figures.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s government had in September 2017 outlawed IPOB and declared that the activities of the group constituted an act of terrorism and illegality.
Before then, Kanu was arrested and jailed but was released from the Kuje Prison in Abuja after meeting bail conditions also in 2017. The IPOB leader later left the country and operated from overseas until he was re-arrested in June 2021.
The detained IPOB leader is facing terrorism charges before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja and his trial has been adjourned to October 21, 2021, for continuation of hearing
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