One of Nigeria’s most eagerly anticipated trials was finally due to reconvene on Tuesday. The only problem was that the main defendant was nowhere to be seen.

Nnamdi Kanu—a separatist leader calling for an independent state of Biafra in southeast Nigeria—was due to appear at the high court in Nigeria’s capital Abuja to face charges of treasonable felony.

But Kanu, who heads the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has not been seen in public since a purported raid by Nigerian security forces on his home in mid-September. And those close to him fear the worst.

Kanu’s wife, Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, wrote to Newsweek earlier in October to say she was sure that her husband had been killed and that the Nigerian government was covering up his death. The separatist leader’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said on Tuesday that he did not know whether his client was dead or alive and had not seen him since the alleged raid on Kanu’s home in Umuahia, southeast Nigeria, the BBC reported.

The Nigerian military denied that the raid—which Kanu’s supporters say happened on September 14 and resulted in some 20 IPOB members being shot dead—ever took place and have said that Kanu is not in their custody.

The trial has been adjourned until November 20, with the court ordering Kanu’s team to produce him on that date. But the IPOB leader’s continued absence is threatening to escalate tensions in southeast Nigeria, where Kanu’s biggest support base resides.

Kanu—a British-Nigerian dual national—was arrested in October 2015. The IPOB leader had built a reputation as a firebrand on Radio Biafra, a U.K.-based station run by IPOB to call for Biafra’s secession from Nigeria.

IPOB’s ambitions hark back to the Nigerian civil war, which erupted in 1967 after an ex-military officer, Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared an independent republic of Biafra in southeast Nigeria. The annexation of Biafra—which was largely inhabited by members of the Igbo ethnic group, one of Nigeria’s largest ethnicities—followed pogroms against Igbos in other parts of the country.

Biafran family A starving Biafran family during the famine resulting from the Nigerian civil war. More than 1 million people died during the war between Nigeria and Biafran secessionists. Express Newspapers/Getty

But the decision led to a three-year civil war that resulted in more than 1 million deaths, many due to starvation as Nigeria blockaded Biafra’s borders. In 1970, the republic was subsumed back into Nigeria, but Kanu’s popularity is evidence that the secessionist sentiment has never fully dissipated in the West African country.

Kanu was charged with treasonable felony—which can carry a death sentence in Nigeria—and was held without trial for almost two years, with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari describing him as a flight risk. The IPOB leader was freed on bail in April but had tight restrictions on his activities.

Animosity between IPOB and the Nigerian government has reached new heights in recent months. The military deployed soldiers to the region in a mission known as Operation Python Dance, which has been seen as a provocation by IPOB. Later in September, the Nigerian government designated IPOB as a terrorist organization, discouraging anyone from joining the group and notifying banks and foreign missions not to engage with its members.

IPOB has consistently said it is non-violent, despite having allegedly formed its own national guard and secret service. Amnesty International said in November 2016 that Nigerian security forces had killed at least 150 pro-Biafra supporters since August 2015, many by extrajudicial execution.

But experts have warned of the risk of radicalizing the group if Kanu were to be killed or die in police custody. A similar situation occurred with the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram in 2009, when its founder Mohammed Yusuf died while being held by police. The group went on to take up arms against the Nigerian government and have killed more than 20,000 people in an eight-year insurgency.

“[Kanu’s death] would likely transform IPOB precisely into the terrorist organization the military claims it already is,” Malte Liewerscheidt, a Nigeria expert at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, told Reuters.

As Kanu’s whereabouts continue to be unknown, neither side is backing down. The Nigerian government prosecutor asked the court to revoke Kanu’s bail, while IPOB threatened ahead of the court sitting that there would be an “inevitable confrontation on a scale the human mind cannot imagine” if Kanu was not produced by the government in court. The saga of one of Nigeria’s most drawn-out and controversial trials in recent years looks set to continue.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/nigeria-putting-biafra-leader-nnamdi-160037128.html

Nnamdi Kanu is now an international figure just the way he planned it,thanks to Buhari and his co-travellers.

The pen will always be mightier than the sword.

Mohammadu Buhari is a terrorist,northern elders forum is a terrorist organization.

niceprof:
Nnamdi Kanu is now an international figure just the way he planned it,thanks to Buhari and his co-travellers.

The pen will always be mightier than the sword.

lol international figure my as$. like he planned it? (well ojukwu's ultimate failure and his world record cross-country sprint to ivory coast was also planned ) why was his family screaming blue murder when the python started dancing near his father's compound?


only ibos can worship a man who still stays in his father's compound at 50. a man whose only known business had a revenue of just 300$ or so. what a low life cum noise maker.


ipob miscreant are too gullible

Alaniyiokorausa:
Mohammadu Buhari is a terrorist,northern elders forum is a terrorist organization.

you shouldn't skip your pills you know


BTW buhari is wicked o IBO bigots labelled him a terrorist for no reason prior to 2015 election just to assassinate his character but now the ipob yoots are he official terrorists

How much was Ghandi, Saro Wiwa, Marthin Luther earning ?
You must think a man's life is measured by the dept of his pocket. Between the winner and the loser of the civil 50 yrs ago, who is better off today? Answer me.

Point is that the Federal Government should and must produce him whether he's dead or alive.

This has the potential for bigger conflagration.


Armed Igbo youth will do Nigeria no good!

Desyner:
How much was Ghandi, Saro Wiwa, Marthin Luther earning ?
You must think a man's life is measured by the deep of his pocket. Between the winner and the loser of the civil 50 yrs ago, who is better off today? Answer me.

lol but ibos have been attacking a certain buhari for not becoming a billionaire after being president and ptf chairman. he was called a failure who has just cows. now you want to change the goal post? at least buhari has a house. I doubt if KANU even has a couch to his name

captleonerd:
lol international figure my as$. like he planned it? (well ojukwu's ultimate failure and his world record cross-country sprint to ivory coast was also planned ) why was his family screaming blue murder when the python started dancing near his father's compound?


only ibos can worship a man who still stays in his father's compound at 50. a man whose only known business had a revenue of just 300$ or so. what a low life cum noise maker.


ipob miscreant are too gullible

If the python was only dancing near his fathers compound why did the python claim to have recovered arms from it ?
It is obvious you work for the government and trying to give the public a wrong perception.

PointB:
Point is that the Federal Government should and must produce him whether he's dead or alive.

This has the potential for bigger conflagration.


Armed Igbo youth will do Nigeria no good!

armed IBO youths only exist in your deluded mind the same ibos that have no history of war prior to the civil war? you do want to lose both ways again. if you try to start insurgency you'll be whipped back in line

someone pls help me with that picture of iPod yoots swimming in mud

captleonerd:

lol but ibos have been attacking a certain buhari for not becoming a billionaire after being president and ptf chairman. he was called a failure who has just cows. now you want to change the goal post? at least buhari has a house. I doubt if KANU even has a couch to his name

Firstly I am not Igbo, Secondly you are the one shifting goal post just reconcile your first reply to the second one and see it yourself.

Desyner:
If the python was only dancing near his fathers compound why did the python claim to have recovered arms from it ?
It is obvious you work for the government and trying to give the public a wrong perception.

typical deluded ipoob yoot. anyone who doesn't support your hate fueled campaign must be either afonja Muslim, awusa slave or working for t government. you need to see a shrink. victim mentality is bad

captleonerd:
typical deluded ipoob yoot. anyone who doesn't support your hate fueled campaign must be either afonja Muslim, awusa slave or working for t government. you need to see a shrink. victim mentality is bad

Your desperate attempt to turn this into a ugly e-fight is clear from your pattern of goal post shifting. I am not even playing the victim here, just asking simple questions.

Desyner:
Firstly I am not Igbo, Secondly you are the one shifting goal post just reconcile your first reply to the second one and see it yourself.

success is eitr measured by monetary achievement or heights attained. buhari is a retired army general and two time president. KANU has neither money or positional achievements to his name. so if buhari is a failure according to your friends then KANU with no know business of tertiary educational qualification is a bigr failure at 50

He has gone the ojukwu way.. useless coward.

They enjoy making noise, beating empty chests. upandan.
Spineless chickens

Desyner:
Your desperate attempt to turn this into a ugly e-fight is clear from your pattern of goal post shifting. I am not even playing the victim here, just asking simple questions.

u don't get the point.

let me break it down for you. apart from using hate speech and propaganda to gain popularity tell me any of kanu's achievement in science, business, activism or leadership (outside ipob). I'm waiting

Hmm

Should l say NNAMDI KANU know what he is doing or Bubu and his Zombies have a right answer to this question.

captleonerd:
you shouldn't skip your pills you know


BTW buhari is wicked o IBO bigots labelled him a terrorist for no reason prior to 2015 election just to assassinate his character but now the ipob yoots are he official terrorists

What happened to the 11 coppers killed after his provocative statements? You say they call him terrorist for no just cause but you n I know that's not the case. What about "dogs and baboons" ?

niceprof:
Nnamdi Kanu is now an international figure just the way he planned it,thanks to Buhari and his co-travellers.

The pen will always be mightier than the sword.

U can type that again. Remember when OSIBANJO was uncharged, he handled it maturely.

captleonerd:

lol but ibos have been attacking a certain buhari for not becoming a billionaire after being president and ptf chairman. he was called a failure who has just cows. now you want to change the goal post? at least buhari has a house. I doubt if KANU even has a couch to his name

After he can down from power,mention one meaningful thing Bubu is known for.

captleonerd:
u don't get the point.

let me break it down for you. apart from using hate speech and propaganda to gain popularity tell me any of kanu's achievement in science, business, activism or leadership (outside ipob). I'm waiting

People get peace award every year for standing up for what's right. Kanu stood for what's right and logical. Maybe there was room for improvement in his methods but that doesn't justify a 'aimless' python dance that takes over 48 hours.

Desyner:
What happened to the 11 coppers killed after his provocative statements? You say they call him terrorist for no just cause but you n I know that's not the case. What about "dogs and baboons" ?

lol what provocative statement? don't even come with that crap about destabilizing GEJ's government. sani kaita said it prior to pdp primaries between atiku and Jonathan. sani is a card carrying member of pdp.

buhari only rejected the outcome of the election. so tell me how is he responsible for the attack on the corpers?

ifyan:


After he can down from power,mention one meaningful thing Bubu is known for.

what is this one saying? being a democratically elected president is not an achievement? I'm sure you can't even have lg chairman in your linage

Desyner:
People get peace award every year for standing up for what's right. Kanu stood for what's right and logical. Maybe there was room for improvement in his methods but that doesn't justify a 'aimless' python dance that takes over 48 hours.

lol what peace award will KANU get with statements like labelling a sovereign country a zoo? statements like goingbto abuja and coming back with the head of a sitting president? if buhari had said he will come back to daura with the head of Jonathan prior to 2015 election ibos will label him a terrorist. KANU is a terrorist not a peacemaker. now tell me one achievement of KANU in 50yrs of his life. I dey wait o

captleonerd:
lol what peace award will KANU get with statements like labelling a sovereign country a zoo? statements like goingbto abuja and coming back with the head of a sitting president? if buhari had said he will come back to daura with the head of Jonathan prior to 2015 election ibos will label him a terrorist. KANU is a terrorist not a peacemaker. now tell me one achievement of KANU in 50yrs of his life. I dey wait o

Oga in English language there is figure of speech.

ifyan:


U can type that again. Remember when OSIBANJO was uncharged, he handled it maturely.

yes he handled it maturely and after the stupid arewa yoots ( I'm not taking sides; both the arewa yoots and iPod yoots are miscreants) withdrew their quit notice KANU was still trying to heat up the system. he still boasted about going to abuja to bring back buhari's head. he even declared buhari dead. after peaceful resolution failed iPop yoots had to be whipped in line

Desyner:
People get peace award every year for standing up for what's right. Kanu stood for what's right and logical. Maybe there was room for improvement in his methods but that doesn't justify a 'aimless' python dance that takes over 48 hours.

lol what peace award will KANU get with statements like labelling a sovereign country a zoo? statements like goingbto abuja and coming back with the head of a sitting president? if buhari had said he will come back to daura with the head of Jonathan prior to 2015 election ibos will label him a terrorist. KANU is a terrorist not a peacemaker. now tell me one achievement of KANU in 50yrs of his life. I dey wait o

ifyan:


U can type that again. Remember when OSIBANJO was uncharged, he handled it maturely.

yes he handled it maturely and after the stupid arewa yoots ( I'm not taking sides; both the arewa yoots and iPod yoots are miscreants) withdrew their quit notice KANU was still trying to heat up the system. he still boasted about going to abuja to bring back buhari's head. he even declared buhari dead. after peaceful resolution failed iPop yoots had to be whipped in line

Desyner:
Oga in English language there is figure of speech.

oh oh but when buhari said the baboon and the dog will be soaked in blood (he didn't even say he will go back to daura with jona's head o) he was declared a terrorist in kanu's figure of speech a sitting president ends up dead but buhari said baboon and dog will be soaked in blood yet you feel the figure of speech that involves a dead sitting president is more peaceful uncle use your brain na. be a fair judge

captleonerd:
lol what provocative statement? don't even come with that crap about destabilizing GEJ's government. sani kaita said it prior to pdp primaries between atiku and Jonathan. sani is a card carrying member of pdp.

buhari only rejected the outcome of the election. so tell me how is he responsible for the attack on the corpers?

hmmm . . .

captleonerd:
oh oh but when buhari said the baboon and the dog will be soaked in blood (he didn't even say he will go back to daura with jona's head o) he was declared a terrorist in kanu's figure of speech a sitting president ends up dead but buhari said baboon and dog will be soaked in blood yet you feel the figure of speech that involves a dead sitting president is more peaceful uncle use your brain na. be a fair judge

Presidential aspirant promising blood is worse. Use what God gave you.