The All Igbo Youth Forum, an Igbo-themed pressure group, threatened to boycott the 2027 general elections if the leader of the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, is not released from prison.
Chief Chinedu Obilor, the national president of the forum, issued the warning at the news briefing held at the Secretariat of the Abia Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Umuahia earlier in the week.
Obilor disclosed that the group planned a major protest on the continued incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu but shelved their plans after a discussion with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Benjamin Kalu. He said the deputy speaker assured them that talks to free Nnamdi Kanu were ongoing, and the IPOB leader would soon regain his freedom.
“We believe the president will listen to the cry of Ndigbo and release Kanu.
The youth forum president maintained their position while announcing they would give Deputy Speaker Kalu two months to engage with the president and secure a release. Obilor said if that doesn’t work out, the Igbo Youth Forum will organise a 10-million-man march to Abuja and face the Tinubu regime.
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He wondered why other high-profile prisoners are securing their freedom, but Nnamdi Kanu remains incarcerated. He added that Igbos and Nigerians cannot leave Nnamdi Kanu and be talking about 2027.
“If they fail, we will hold a 10-million-man march to Abuja and dare them to jail all of us.” If they feel they will use Nnamdi Kanu to do politics, we will not agree.
“We’ll mobilise 10 million Igbo youths to march and tell the government we won’t vote, if Kanu is not released,” Obilor added.
The pressure group harped on excluding the South East from primary appointments across Tinubu’s cabinet, deeming that unacceptable. They also commented on the recent African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition, stating that any coalition that doesn’t zone the presidency to the south will not be accepted.
They maintained that the south backed the north for eight years under the late president Buhari. The group believes it is time for the north to return the favour in the spirit of equity.
Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was first arrested in 2015 in Lagos, Nigeria, and charged with criminal conspiracy, intimidation, and membership in an illegal organisation.
He was granted bail in April 2017 but fled after a military raid. Kanu was rearrested in 2021 in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria. He faces an amended seven-count charge, including terrorism, treasonable felony, and inciting violence via Radio Biafra.
