There are indicators of fresh tension in Abuja as members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) mobilise for mass protest at the Abuja High Court on July 26 when IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, would be arraigned in a resumed prosecution. The IPOB members during the mass protest would be demanding the release of Nnamdi Kanu by the Nigerian government.
Meanwhile, the Biafra Nations League (BNL), a wing of the Biafra agitators operating in the Bakassi Peninsula, held an emergency meeting with key members and stakeholders in the Bakassi Peninsula on Monday. The Head of Operations of BNL, Henry Edet, in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, had disclosed that the closed-door emergency meeting was in line with the conclusion of the BNL Zoom meeting on Saturday night.
BNL, however, noted that the group is not aware of the speculation online its members will be participating in the July 26 protest in Abuja at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, where IPOB members would be demanding immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu. Edet stated that the leadership of IPOB is yet to reach out to them on the planned protest.
“I saw some YouTube channels mentioning that we will be part of the protest, I am not aware, as the head of operations, any action my group wants to take, I am the person that will handle it. For now, my group has not informed me that we shall be participating in protest anywhere.
“The IPOB leadership has not reached out to us on that, so we can’t be faster than them,” Edet said.
BNL emphasized that the group will not condemn any action IPOB takes in securing the freedom of Nnamdi Kanu. The BNL, however, advised IPOB to look beyond protests.
The BNL had earlier appealed to its members in areas under their influence, including the Bakassi Peninsula, to be calm and wait for the group leadership to decide what next, immediately after the arrest of the IPOB Leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
The Federal Government has threatened to go after IPOB collaborators including other separatists’ groups of which BNL is another targeted group next to IPOB, the group vowed never to back off due to threats from the Presidency.