The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has issued a strong statement condemning what it described as the “cowardly silence and betrayal” of Igbo governors, traditional rulers, and political leaders regarding the continued detention of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
In the statement signed by IPOB spokesperson Comrade Emma Powerful, the group said that while politicians from other regions defend their own, Igbo leaders have “mortgaged the dignity of their people for crumbs from Abuja.”
IPOB noted that northern leaders often shield insurgents, while Yoruba leaders rallied behind Sunday Igboho and Omoyele Sowore, but Igbo governors have failed to demand Kanu’s unconditional release despite his discharge and acquittal by the courts.
The group compared the current situation to the historical betrayal during the transatlantic slave trade, accusing today’s leaders of repeating the same errors of collaborating against their own. It also drew parallels with the 1803 Eboe Landing, praising Kanu’s resilience and steadfastness as embodying the Igbo spirit of “honour above servitude.”
“Instead of protecting the collective interest of their people, they actively participate in the humiliation of the Igbo nation,” the statement read.
Reaffirming its stance, IPOB insisted that no political betrayal can erase the fact that Kanu’s detention is unlawful, declaring that history will remember those who stood firm and those who “sold their own.”
The statement concluded with a reminder of Kanu’s words:
“In the end, we always win.”
