separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu
Kanu’s Israel Connection: How separatist leader got to Israel
Barely one year after Nigeria’s military Operation Python Dance swept him out of his country home in Abia State, South-East Nigeria, separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has resurfaced in Israel.
Kanu said in Sunday’s broadcast that he was still pushing for a referendum to create the independent state of Biafra.
It is unclear how Kanu was able to get to Israel, as reportedly surrendered his Nigerian and British passports after his arrest. But an informed source said that Kanu made most of his journey to Israel through the water and his movement graced by his strong Israel connection.
In the Sunday broadcast, Kanu urged his followers to boycott 2019 general elections in Nigeria unless the government agrees to his push for a referendum.
“Ipob will liberate Biafra and we will not take part in any elections until we get a referendum, it is not negotiable, we will do it by any means,” he added.
“I will be back soon in the land of Biafra and I will bring hell with me,” he said.
“I owe my survival to the state of Israel,” he added, saying that he had been aided by Mossad, country’s spy agency, without elaborating how he was assisted.
Although a large proportion of his followers for actualizing independence of Biafra from Nigeria dispersed after the onslaught, there appear to be some remnants who are hailing his re-appearance. However, given the circumstance he fled Nigeria in the heat of military attack, he is not likely to arouse the level of consciousness as he did in the wake of the year.
The Presidential candidate of main opposition party, Atiku Abubakar, has appointed a son of South-East as his running mate. This gesture is likely to cool some frayed nerves in the region.
Kanu resurfaced in Israel over the weekend at the western wall of Jerusalem.
“I’m in Israel,” Mr Kanu said on Sunday in a broadcast on his outlawed pirate radio station – Radio Biafra.
Photos and videos of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (Ipob) leader praying at the Wailing Wall has also been shared online.
Some reports had said that Mr Kanu was being detained after the 2017 raid.
His wife, Uchechi Kanu, told the BBC in February that she believed the government knew where her husband was being held after his home was raided by soldiers.
In 2015, he was charged with “criminal conspiracy, intimidation and membership of an illegal organisation” – charges that could amount to treason.
He was released on bail last year after spending more than a year-and-a-half without trial on treason charges.