Nigeria: Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatists have hijacked a ship and demanded the release of their leader
The Nigerian army has confirmed that pro-Biafra separatists have hijacked a merchant ship and are threatening to blow it up unless the group’s detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is released.
Kanu was arrested last October and put on trial for treason by the Nigerian government. Kanu’s Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group has led agitations for the secession of eastern Nigeria to become an independent nation called Biafra.
Original calls for the creation of Biafra led to Nigeria’s bloody three-year civil war between 1967 and 1970 during which a million civilians died. While the Biafran troops surrendered in defeat 46 years ago, there have been groups, like Kanu’s IPOB, who have continued to agitate for secession.
The group has been accused of hate speech as it spreads messages of secession, by violence if necessary, through its many media channels like Radio Biafra, the group’s online station which the government has tried to shut down unsuccessfully.