#FREEKANU Protests: Merits And Demerits…Even As Gov. Oyebanji Flags Off Historic Ekiti Ring Road Project, By Bolanle BOLAWOLE
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Last Monday, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, where the maverick Nyesom Wike bear rule, was shut down by protesters demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) agitator, Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention since his rendition in controversial circumstances from Kenya on 27 June, 2021. He has been on trial since then, with turns and twists orchestrated by both sides to the dispute – the prosecution as well as the defence. Kanu is standing trial on the serious allegations of treasonable felony and terrorism, occasioned by his agitation to forcibly take the five south-eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo, peopled majorly by ethnic Igbos, as well as conscripting the (unwilling?) adjourning south-south states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Edo, Delta, and Rivers to create his dream Independent State of Biafra, where he would imperially rule as Lord of the Manor.
Kanu’s was not the first agitation for Biafra. As a fall-out from the unfortunate events of January 15, 1966, Nigeria’s first coup, seen by many as an Igbo coup because of the dominant role played in it by Nigerian military officers of Igbo extraction, and the counter-coup that swiftly followed six months later in July of the same year, widespread violence and the killing of Igbos erupted in the North. In retaliation, Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu led the Igbos in their quest to exit Nigeria and form their own Republic of Biafra, which he declared on May 30, 1967. In a counter move, the then Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, declared a “police action” against the run-away Biafrans, which was merely a euphemism for the declaration of war. The war raged for two-and-half years, until the Biafrans were defeated by Federal forces. They officially surrendered on January 15, 1970.
Twenty-nine years after, with the return to civilian rule in 1999, a renewed agitation for Biafra led to the formation of MASSOB (Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra) led by one Ralph Uwazuruike. Unlike Ojukwu before him and Nnamdi Kanu that came after him, Nwazuruike adopted a nonviolent approach to his agitation for Biafra; nevertheless, the irritations and security risk that his agitations portended led to brushes with the authorities, as a result of which he tasted arrest and detention on a number of occasions. He was also charged with treason at the Federal High Court, Abuja by the Federal Government before MASSOB and its agitation eventually petered out.
Nnamdi Kanu: A different kettle of fish
Enter Mazi Nnamdi Kanu with IPOB, which he founded in 2012! He has toed a radically different line from Uwazuruike. He lived abroad from where he dictated directives to his followers and poured invectives on his perceived opponents. He actively encouraged the use of violence to achieve his stated political goal of forcibly creating Biafra out of Nigeria. He demanded that his followers commit acts of violence against governmental as well as non-governmental facilities and personnel. Ordinary citizens were not spared. Of note was the “stay-at-home order” imposed by IPOB on the entire south-east states every Monday, imperilling the livelihood of millions of people and dislocating the economy of the states concerned. An uncountable number of those caught on the wrong side of IPOB’s “stay-at-home” order are known to have lost life, limb, and livelihood. At the height of his influence, Kanu’s word was law in the entire south-east. Even duly elected leaders of the area quivered at his command. Kanu also reportedly ordered, directed, monitored and supervised from his safe haven abroad the wanton destruction of life and property, especially in Lagos state, during the #ENDSARSNOW protests of 2020.
Enter Simon Ekpa
Rather than bring an end to the atrocities ordered by IPOB against its perceived opponents, the 2021 arrest and detention of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, further inflamed passions, and the atrocities of his rag-tag “army” became intensified. In 2022, Finland-based Simon Njoku Ekpa, a self-declared disciple of Kanu, stepped into the IPOB leader’s shoes and declared the formation of what he called the Biafra Government-in-Exile. In 2023, Ekpa upped the ante by announcing the coming into force of the Biafran Republic Government-in-Exile, with himself at his head. He bestowed upon himself the title of Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile.
Ekpa’s theatrics and self-amusement, however, came to an abrupt end when he was arrested by the Finnish authorities at the promptings, obviously, of the Nigerian Government and was charged for attempting “to promote the independence of Biafra by illegal means.” The ‘illegal means” referred to were acts of violence and terrorism. The Nigerian army authorities had earlier announced that Ekpa and 96 others were wanted for terrorism, violent extremism and secessionist threats. Nigerian government officials had also stated their wish to have him extradited to Nigeria to face trial.
In September 2025, after a trial that lasted for less than a month, the Biafran “Prime Minister” was found guilty as charged and was handed a six-year jail term. Forty-year-old Ekpa cut a pathetic and pitiable sight on Monday, 1 September this year as cameras caught him crying like a baby after his conviction and sentencing! Ekpa’s trial began on 30 May and ended on 25 June, 2025, with the court sitting for a total of 12 sessions.
Justice delayed…
And that is where the problem lies with the trial of Kanu, who has been facing his own trial this time around since 27 June, 2021, a period of over four years. A maxim of the justice system all over the world says justice delayed is justice denied. There is no beating about the bush on this matter, Kanu’s trial has been delayed; therefore, justice may justifiably be deemed to have been denied him! That is not to say that he did not commit the offences that he has been charged with. Or that he, too, has not been partly instrumental to dragging his case in court. But the Government ought to have been wiser, more prudent, and more diligent. They ought to have understood what Kanu was aiming at. They should have prevented his antics instead of playing along with them. The authorities have been tardy with Kanu’s prosecution, in the typical Nigerian way of carelessness and indifference. There has evidently been a lack of diligent prosecution in this matter. Governments ought not to treat the fundamental rights of citizens with levity. It is a travesty of a citizen’s natural rights to keep him restrained perpetually while government functionaries take time to amuse themselves, fiddling while the same citizen languishes in detention. That is unconscionable! And a travesty of justice!
Let the government make up its mind whether or not to bring Kanu to justice. Four years is enough time for them to have gathered all the evidence they have against him and proceed with his prosecution – or else, let him go, like the protesters led by perennial protester and serial presidential candidate, Sowore Omoyele, have demanded! My Owo (Ogho) people have a saying: “If you waste 10 years preparing to get mad; how many years will you have left to exhibit the madness proper?” Between Finland and Nigeria, the difference in the justice system – and not only in that but also in how governments and institutions function and take their duties and responsibilities seriously – has been laid bare with the way both countries have handled two similar cases, one involving Kanu and the other involving Ekpa.
Truth be told, Kanu’s case ought to have been disposed of long before President Muhammadu Buhari (now late) quit office in May 2023. The incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should never have inherited the case. But since it became his lot to do, then, the two years plus a few months that he has already spent in office is more than enough for him to have disposed of the case. Had that been done; had Kanu been sentenced like Ekpa was sentenced, no one would be asking for his unconditional release and making a fuss about an issue that is as clear as daylight, except that, here, we play all manner of sordid politics, even with very serious issues. Therefore, I put the blame for all the stress, all the embarrassment, and all the losses suffered as a result of the #FREENNAMDIKANU protests squarely at the doormouth of the Federal Government. If there was any loss of life as a result of the protests – because I understand the security agents fired life bullets at protesters (which they should not have done because it is barbaric) – the Government should also bear full responsibility.
No unconditional release for KanuThat said, I do not accept that Kanu should be released unconditionally. He has to answer, at the very least, for some of his atrocities. I think the protesters also believe so. They merely aggravated the matter by asking for his unconditional release so as to ginger the government to action. So I believe! They also may have used the opportunity of the #FREENNAMDIKANU protests to mark the fifth anniversary of the #ENDSARSNOW protests; which I also think is legitimate. Some have also suggested that the protesters were trying to rub it in: That if alleged or convicted drug addicts and murderers can be given state pardon, like some were said to have been so pardoned recently, why not Kanu! We have been told, however, that the controversial pardon is undergoing a review. I await the report of the review! But as for Nnamdi Kanu, he must face trial. And since the trial has started, we should let the rule of law run its full course. Yes, the wheel of justice, they say, grinds slowly, but the snail’s speed in this case should be looked into.
My surprise is that a state like Lagos, where Kanu’s incendiary speeches and directives wreaked monumental havoc, leading to loss of life and property, has not brought charges against the Biafra agitator. If the Lagos state authorities didn’t think of doing so before now, they must wake up from their slumber and act as appropriate. On many fronts, Nnamdi Kanu has a case to answer! He cannot run away from it!
Oyebanji’s Ekiti Ring Road project
Different strokes for different folks, as they say. Our people also have a saying, to wit, “What aileth Owa is not the same as aileth the Ooni. While Owa is getting ready for war, the Ooni is preparing to offer sacrifice to Ogun.” Ogun is one of the many deities of the Yoruba people. “Oun t’o n se Owa ko l’o n se Ooni/Owa n mura ogun (re-re), Ooni n mura ogun (do-mi). Despite that both are traditional rulers and neighbours, their concerns differ. That was what played out before our very eyes last week. While Sowore and his ilks were leading protests that caused widespread disruption of social and economic activities and, possibly, avoidable fatalities in some locations across the country , Ekiti state’s Gov. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji aka BAO was inaugurating the Phase One of the Ekiti Ring Road game-changer project.
A national daily’s front page report titled “#FREE NNAMDIKANU: Protest wave hits Abuja, paralyses S’East states” also added: “Abuja protesters tear-gassed, (Presidential) Villa fortified, federal workers barred, S’East locked down” Imagine the dislocation, inconveniences and losses that millions of ordinary citizens, who must work daily to eke out a living, would have been put through for no fault of theirs. Conversely, the Ekiti Ring Road project, which Gov. Oyebanji has now committed himself into executing, will ease traffic flow and save commuters a lot of hassles and reduce time wasted in the perpetual “go-slow” that diminishes the status of Ado-Ekiti as a modern state capital. When governments talk of making their state the destination of choice for investors, one important factor that must be taken into consideration is the ease of moving around, which aids the ease of doing business; not to talk of the pleasure derivable therefrom. The Ekiti Ring Road project, inaugurated last Wednesday, is a project long overdue. It will help open up the largely agrarian and civil service state to rapid socio-economic development. I dare to say that this is a welcome development!
Former editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/Editor-in-chief of The Westerner news magazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.
