Supreme Court to Rule on Nnamdi Kanu’s Case: Here’s Why His Release Might Not Quell Insecurity in Southeast
On December 15, 2023, a five-member panel at the Supreme Court, led by Justice Kudirat Kereke-Ekun, will rule on the case of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who faces terrorist charges leveled against him by the federal government of Nigeria.
Since Nnamdi Kanu was apprehended by the Nigerian government in Kenya in June 2021, there have been calls from pro-Biafra activists and other groups for his release.
In solidarity with his release, IPOB, which was founded by Kanu, issued a compulsory sit-at-home order across the entire Southeast region. While the order has since been revoked, an armed wing of IPOB known as the Eastern Security Network (ESN), along with other elements in the region, continued to enforce the order. This has had a significant economic impact on the region, costing it over N4 trillion in two years, according to a 2022 report by SBM Intelligence.
Consequently, across the region, from the once-peaceful Imo State, known as the Eastern Heartland and flourishing with hospitality businesses, to Ariaria in Aba, Abia State, also referred to as the ‘Japan of West Africa,’ where raw materials are transformed into finished products, the sit-at-home order has not only taken a toll on the region’s economy but has also resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives. In the first five months of 2021, 254 people were killed as a result of the group’s activities.
Those advocating for Kanu’s release and hoping for a favorable Supreme Court ruling in December base their appeal on the belief that his release will help ease tension and restore sanity to the region.
In March 2023, the Governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, in his congratulatory message to the then-president-elect, Bola Tinubu, appealed to Tinubu to prioritize the release of Kanu after his swearing-in.
He stated, “In this regard, may I reiterate my previous calls and hereby request our President-elect to release Nnamdi Kanu immediately after swearing-in (that is if he is not released before then). We need him around the table as an important stakeholder in discussions about healing and sustainable peace in the South-East.”
Ohaneze Igbo, an Igbo socio-cultural group, has insisted that the release of Nnamdi Kanu is central to achieving peace in the region.
“His release is central and fundamental to the peace mechanism in Igbo land. Without releasing Nnamdi Kanu, there is not much the service chiefs can do. Because of the leadership vacuum created over time, people believe much in Nnamdi Kanu,” said Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the group’s President on June 25, 2023.
While it is widely believed that a freed Kanu will help de-escalate the increasing unrest in the region, there might be reasons to suggest, looking at other similar insurgencies in the country and around the world, that the group (IPOB and ESN) might not be willing to surrender their arms even if Nnamdi asks them to.
When the founder of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, was arrested in July 2009 and executed shortly afterward under controversial circumstances, some expected that the uprising of the insurgent group would cease to spread across Northern Nigeria. Unfortunately, Boko Haram grew to become one of the most deadly terrorist organizations in the world, responsible for the deaths of over 30,000 Nigerians.
When Nnamdi Kanu formed ESN in December 2020 and armed the group, it was supposedly with the intention of protecting the lives of easterners. However, as is often the case with other armed groups formed to advance a just cause for their people, as was witnessed in the Niger Delta, ESN became a nightmare for many people living in the region. Kidnappings for ransom increased, and those with differing opinions were either killed or intimidated into silence by the group.
In August 2023, a Neusroom correspondent was harassed and extorted by the group in Orlu, Imo State, one of the areas worst hit by insecurity in the region.
This raises the question: What influence would Nnamdi Kanu have on the group after three years of his absence?
To suggest that Nnamdi Kanu, when released, will have complete control and be able to magically end the insecurity by ordering ESN to lay down their arms is to deny the likelihood that these armed groups went rogue due to the growing cost of living. How would Kanu’s release disarm this group amidst growing hardship?
It is welcoming that Igbo political leaders are exploring dialogue to resolve the impasse between Nnamdi Kanu and the federal government, and it is only just for Kanu to have a fair hearing at the country’s apex court, but they, Igbo leaders, have failed to negotiate with their citizens, some of whom support, perhaps unknowingly to their detriment, the use of force to achieve the shared dream of a Biafra nation that Chukwuemeka Ojukwu failed to bring to them despite a devastating war.
