Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general election, has condemned the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). During an interview on 90Minutes Africa with Rudolf Okonkwo, Sowore stated that Kanu is a victim of the post-civil war treatment directed at the Igbo, asserting, “Nigeria has an Igbo problem.”
Sowore likened the situation to a father on his deathbed expressing a problem with the Igbo, implying systemic neglect and discrimination. Kanu, who escaped from Nigeria in 2017 while on bail, was arrested in Kenya by Interpol in June 2021 and extradited to Nigeria in a controversial manner.
On October 22, 2022, the Court of Appeal in Abuja declared Kanu’s extradition illegal and ordered his immediate release. However, the Nigerian government has continued to detain him, appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court, which acknowledged the illegality of his extradition but did not grant his release, allowing his detention to persist.
Sowore, who has faced his own challenges with the Department of State Services (DSS), expressed disappointment that Bola Tinubu’s administration has not moved to release Kanu. He suggested a conspiracy is at play, noting that some Igbo elites have been complicit in Kanu’s continued detention, postponing discussions about his release until after the elections.
Sowore conveyed his skepticism about Kanu receiving justice from the Nigerian judicial system, claiming the president influences the courts directly. “Kanu is the official prisoner of whoever is the president of Nigeria,” he stated, emphasizing that Kanu’s fate rests in the hands of the state.
