Former presidential candidate and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has accused the Nigerian government of deliberately refusing to release the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since 2021, following his rearrest over allegations of terrorism and treason tied to his separatist activities.
On Monday, Sowore led a protest in Abuja demanding Kanu’s release. During the demonstration, several protesters, including Kanu’s lawyer and his brother, were reportedly arrested and remanded in Kuje prison.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Sowore alleged that Kanu remains detained because “they know the lies sustaining their power will collapse once Mazi Nnamdi Kanu walks out as a free man.”
According to him, the authorities do not “want Mazi Nnamdi Kanu freed alive, and they are united in that mission. Ever since they realized that their web of deceit was beginning to unravel, they have gone into overdrive.”
Sowore further claimed that those in power “know that the people’s eyes have opened, and the fake political careers built on deceit, destruction, and the decimation of the oppressed will not survive the truth.
“They fear his freedom because it will expose their fraud, greed, backstabbing, and betrayal of justice.”