The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has explained why Simon Ekpa may no longer continue as a broadcaster on Radio Biafra. IPOB disclosed that Ekpa upon his appointment has refused to follow laid down rules of operation in Radio Biafra, hence the need to discontinue with his services. Ekpa was engaged as a broadcaster on Radio Biafra shortly after Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB was rearrested. The group stressed that Ekpa’s services may no longer be needed because he has refused to sign the rules of engagement and code of conduct guiding those broadcasting on Radio Biafra. A statement by IPOB Spokesperson, Emma Powerful, reads: “The global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has observed with regrets, that Mazi Simon Ekpa whom our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu gave an appointment and duty to start broadcasting on Radio Biafra doesn’t want to follow the laid down rules of operation in Radio Biafra. Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu gave the directive while in detention but Mazi Simon Ekpa has refused to follow the principles. “Mazi Simon Ekpa has refused to sign the rules of engagement and code of conduct guiding those broadcasting on Radio Biafra. We don’t understand why Mazi Ekpa would not like to follow the steps of other broadcasters on the platform who have since done the needful. “IPOB is a big movement, and cannot just change the rules because of one individual as this may set a bad precedence. Mazi Simon Ekpa is a hardworking Biafran whose immense contributions towards the restoration of Biafra are highly appreciated, but for not signing the code of conduct as a broadcaster on Radio Biafra, he may not continue to have the opportunity of broadcasting via the platform. “This decision was not intended to ridicule or undermine anyone but to prove to all that due process cannot be compromised in IPOB. IPOB is a well-structured movement where the activities of members are regulated with well-thought-out rules. No one should act in a way that suggests that the laws are meant for a certain group of people. “While Mazi Simon Ekpa has the right to make his broadcasts on Facebook and other platforms of his choice, he may no longer broadcast on Radio Biafra as one of the official broadcasters.”

Aare Ona Kankanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has stated that the attempt by the Federal Government to criminalise the case of Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popular known as Sunday Igboho, is undemocratic. This was contained in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, where Adams expressed sadness over the way the Igboho was arrested. According to him, the plan by the FG to clamp down agitators is undemocratic and can make the government an enemy to the people. “Igboho’s case is gradually exposing FG’s plan to clamp down on all agitators and that is undemocratic, and also capable of turning government to tyranny of the majority, especially, from a government that came to power with a lot of hope and support from the people of the South-West,” Adams opined. He also called on the FG to be fair in handling Igboho’s case as maltreatment may lead to war. He said, “I think the FG should be fair to the young man because any attempt to trivialize issues of agitations might set this nation on fire. “For example, the issue of self determination didn’t come up overnight. It was as a result of the long years of injustice, nepotism, and corruption occasioned by bad leadership. “So, the FG will be making a big mistake if it decides to treat agitators of Yoruba nation as common criminals or enemies. “Igboho has a right to his freedom. There is nothing bad for him to seek assylum in Republic of Benin, and he is entitled to seek refuge in a foreign land if he thinks his safety cannot be guaranteed here in Nigeria.” The PUNCH had reported that the International Criminal Police Organisation at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, Benin Republic, arrested Igboho and his wife, Ropo, on Monday night while trying to catch a flight to Germany. It was gathered that the Nigerian government through its Ambassador to the Benin Republic, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), was instrumental to the arrest of Igboho and his wife. The former Chief of Army Staff has also been pushing for the extradition of Igboho to Abuja but Igboho’s lawyer, Yomi Aliyyu (SAN), noted that his client cannot be extradited because the 1984 Extradition Treaty between Nigeria, Benin and two others excluded political refugees like Igboho.

Facts have emerged on how Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, initially escaped arrest at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, Benin Republic before his eventual arrest around 8pm on Monday. A top security source told The PUNCH that Igboho and his wife, Ropo, at first, escaped arrest but a travel agent was used to lure them back to the airport. The source said, “He (Igboho) was arrested in Cotonou on Monday night while he tried to travel. He was already at the airport with a passport. The immigration officers suspected the passport and so they stopped him. In the process, they discovered he was the one. He was able to escape in the course of discussion and we were grateful to God for that. “But the travel agent called back saying the matter had been resolved. But on going back, he was arrested. He was trying to travel to Germany when he was apprehended.” Also, another security source present in Cotonou told The PUNCH that Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Benin Republic, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), was instrumental in the arrest of Igboho and his wife. The source confided in The PUNCH that the former Chief of Army Staff wrote the government of the small West African country and insisted on the arrest and extradition of Igboho. Buratai, Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff between July 2015 and January 2021, was deployed as Nigeria’s envoy in the Benin Republic in June 2021. night while he tried to travel. He was already at the airport with a passport. The immigration officers suspected the passport and so they stopped him. In the process, they discovered he was the one. He was able to escape in the course of discussion and we were grateful to God for that. “But the travel agent called back saying the matter had been resolved. But on going back, he was arrested. He was trying to travel to Germany when he was apprehended.” Also, another security source present in Cotonou told The PUNCH that Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Benin Republic, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), was instrumental in the arrest of Igboho and his wife. The source confided in The PUNCH that the former Chief of Army Staff wrote the government of the small West African country and insisted on the arrest and extradition of Igboho. Buratai, Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff between July 2015 and January 2021, was deployed as Nigeria’s envoy in the Benin Republic in June 2021. Before then, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had presented Buratai’s nomination to the Senate and the upper chamber of the National Assembly had confirmed the ex-COAS’ nomination despite public outcry of some crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the Nigerian Army under Buratai’s leadership. The top security source in Benin Republic, who spoke to our correspondent, said that Buratai through the Nigerian Embassy in the small West African country, sent a secret letter to the Benin government to be on the lookout for Igboho. The PUNCH gathered that the letter was instrumental to the arrest of Igboho and his wife, Ropo, at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, the largest city in the French-speaking country. Benin Republic is bordered by Togo to the west, Burkina Faso to the north-west, Niger Republic to the north-east, the Atlantic Ocean to the south and Nigeria to the east. Benin Republic shares a boundary with Oyo State in South-West Nigeria, where Igboho was based before the Nigerian Government through its Department of State Services raided his Soka residence in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on July 1, 2021 around 1am. Though Igboho, an arrowhead in the separatist agitation for Yoruba Nation, narrowly escaped the bloody raid, about 12 of his associates were arrested and two others killed by the Nigerian secret police. Later, the DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, at a press briefing in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, on July 1, 2021, paraded Igboho’s associates and detained them thereafter, denying them access to their lawyers and not charging them to court. The DSS also paraded some passports, AK-47 rifles, rounds of ammunition, African bulletproof vests, amongst others as exhibits. The secret police claimed that the items were recovered from Igboho’s house during the bloody raid. It also declared Igboho wanted for allegedly stockpiling arms which he claimed the activist wanted to use to destabilise Nigeria under the guise of Yoruba Nation agitation. Igboho denied the allegations and went into hiding. Many Nigerians had condemned the Gestapo raid of the activist house and the treatment of the Federal Government of Nigeria on the matter but Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, had commended the DSS for the raid of the house of Igboho whom he labelled as “a militant ethnic secessionist, who has also been conducting acts of terror and disturbing the peace under the guise of protecting fellow ‘kinsmen’.” While in hiding, the Federal Government of Nigeria placed the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigeria Customs Service on alert to stop Igboho from leaving the country. It was gathered that the government beefed up security at Iwajowa, Saki West and Ibarapa local government areas of Oyo State which were adjoining areas to the Benin Republic. Igboho, who rose to prominence in January 2021 after he issued an ultimatum to ‘killer herders’ in parts of Ibarapaland, was said to have escaped the security apparatus in the areas to Benin Republic where he was scheduled to catch a flight to Germany. According to a top source familiar with the matter, the Nigerian government foresaw the possibility of Igboho flying to Europe through Benin Republic and planted a landmine for him there through Buratai. The source said after Igboho was eventually arrested, “A lot of people made effort to resolve the matter but we discovered that the Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic (Tukur Buratai) was already aware and he said that he (Igboho) must be extradited.” Another security source present in Benin Republic also told The PUNCH that the International Criminal Police Organisation,

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has effected the release of 136 inmates from Kano custodial centres as part of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration. Ganduje, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, announced the pardon to the inmates on Tuesday when he visited Goron Dutse Medium Custodial Centre. The governor said: “In your position as Nigerians who deserve to be taken care of, we are here today, Sallah Day, to celebrate with you this great Sallah period, by way of releasing some of you who are pardoned. “We are here to also see how you are feeling and to share our joyous moment with you. “We want those of you who repented to promise not to go back to their previous nefarious acts,” he admonished. He also urged the freed inmates to be of good conduct when they are finally being integrated into society. Stating the motives behind their release, Ganduje said: “Some of you are released because of ill-health, some stayed longer than necessary and some were incarcerated because they were not able to pay charges placed on them.” He, however, maintained that the pardoning exercise was in compliance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to decongest custodial centres across the country. In his remarks, the Controller in charge of correctional centres in Kano, Sulaiman T. Sulaiman, commended the governor for being humane while relating with inmates in the state. After releasing them, each of the inmates was given a sum of N5,000 as transport fare back to their respective destinations.