Residents of Abia State, Nigeria’s South-east, Monday, joined the protest in opposition to continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, chief of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Spearheaded by a human rights activist and Sahara Reporters writer, Omoyele Sowore, the protest was held throughout elements of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Safety operatives reportedly fired tear gasoline and gunshots at some protesters on Monday in Abuja.
In Abia State, a number of residents marched round main areas and roads in Umuahia, the state capital on Monday.
The protesters have been seen in video clips chanting Mr Kanu’s names and demanding his launch from detention.
In among the clips, a lot of the protesters marched on foot whereas a number of of them have been in tricycles, bikes and bicycles.
A resident of Umuahia, Ben Emeka, instructed PREMIUM TIMES that the protest initially appeared like it might not be held when police operatives led by the Commissioner of Police in Abia State, Danladi Isa, tried to persuade members of Abia State Chapter of the Ohaneze Ndigbo worldwide to shelve the protest.
“The protest was organised by the Ohaneze individuals. They have been getting ready to begin the protest at Okpara Sq. when the commissioner requested them to cease the protest as a result of some hoodlums might reap the benefits of the train to commit crimes,” Mr Emeka stated.
“Instantly, some youths of Afara-Ukwu got here out en masse and began the protest,” he acknowledged.
He added that safety operatives later blocked the protesters from getting access to the Abia State Authorities Home.
“Many individuals got here out for the protest,” he remarked.
Afara-Ukwu is Mr Kanu’s neighborhood.
Empty streets in Enugu, Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi
Not like in Abia, there have been empty streets in Enugu State on Monday. Companies and faculties have been shut down, however protests weren’t held throughout the state as residents stayed indoors.
The scenario was the identical in Imo State. Kevin Ndiukwuegbula, a resident of Owerri, the state capital, instructed PREMIUM TIMES that residents solely confirmed up within the night.
“Markets didn’t open too. Individuals solely began popping out this night as a result of we’re afraid of the sit-at-home order on Mondays,” Mr Ndiukwegbula stated.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel, a resident of Onitsha in Anambra State, stated residents neither protested nor opened their outlets for enterprise on Monday.
“We don’t usually open for enterprise on Mondays due to the (IPOB) sit-at-home order. However we didn’t protest right now,” Mr Emmanuel stated.
Arinze Ajaezu, a store proprietor on the Onitsha Principal Market, corroborated Mr Emmanuel’s place.
“There was no protest right now in my space. I’m conscious if a protest was held in Onitsha,” stated Mr Ajaezu who resides at 3-3 Space, an outskirts of Onitsha.
It was the identical scenario in Ebonyi State. Solomon Alegu, a resident of Abakaliki, the state capital, stated not like earlier than there have been diminished human and vehicular actions within the capital metropolis on Monday.
“Some markets have been open however they have been very scanty,” he stated.
“Even autos have been only a few on the roads.”
Background
Mr Sowore, earlier this month, introduced plans to steer the protest on 20 October to free Mr Kanu from detention.
With a hangtag, #FreeNnamdiKanuNow, Mr Sowore visited varied areas in Abuja, asking residents to hitch the protest.
The human rights activist additionally known as on politicians from the South-east, together with Peter Obi, to hitch the protest.
In the meantime, Mr Kanu, who’s going through terrorism trial on the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Abuja, has been in detention since he was repatriated to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021 below controversial circumstances.
The IPOB chief was first arrested in 2015 below the administration of then-President President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr Kanu leads IPOB, an outlawed group main agitation for an impartial state of Biafra which it needs carved out from the South-east and a few elements of the South-south Nigeria.
He had been discharged and acquitted by the Courtroom of Attraction in Abuja in 2022, however the Nigerian authorities blocked his launch.
The federal government claimed that he (Kanu) could possibly be unavailable in subsequent courtroom proceedings if he was launched and that his launch would trigger insecurity within the South-east, the place he comes from.
They later appealed the courtroom ruling and subsequently obtained an order staying the execution of the courtroom judgement on the Supreme Courtroom.
On 15 December 2023, the Supreme Courtroom reversed the acquittal granted to Mr Kanu by the decrease courtroom and consequently ordered continuation of his trial on the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Abuja.
On 19 June 2025, the Nigerian authorities closed its case in opposition to the IPOB chief after the fifth prosecution witness was led in proof and cross-examined by Mr Kanu’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, earlier than Justice James Omotosho of the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Abuja.
Nevertheless, moderately than opening his defence, Mr Kanu, by means of his legal professionals, as an alternative filed a no-case submission to hunt the dismissal of the fees on the grounds that the proof introduced by the prosecution failed to ascertain any case in opposition to him to warrant him coming into any defence.
READ ALSO: #FreeNnamdiKanuNow: Onanuga accuses Kanu’s lawyer of unethical follow for becoming a member of protest, activist Inibehe Effiong responds
Regardless of preliminary opposition by prosecuting legal professionals, the courtroom later accepted Mr Kanu’s software for the no-case submission.
However on 26 September, the courtroom dismissed the no-case submission filed by Mr Kanu and ordered him to enter his defence.
Final week, a court-ordered medical panel declared the IPOB chief match to proceed going through his ongoing terrorism trial.
