Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has put a stop to all sit-at-home orders in the south-east of Nigeria.
In a handwritten letter to his ally and Finland- based leader of IPOB, Mr. Simon Ekpa, Kanu ordered him to desist from calling sit-at-home orders.
Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, read out his (Kanu’s) letter to Ekpa to journalists in Enugu State on Friday, following the refusal of Ekpa, to announce the cancellation and further declaration through his media platforms.
Ekpa, however, has described the letter as fake and “a lie from the pit of hell.”
Ejimakor’s full statement in Enugu reads:
“This Public Announcement bears (as shall be reproduced below) the unedited, verbatim Instructions containing a Direct Order personally issued by MAZI NNAMDI KANU in his own handwriting on 24th July, 2023 through me to MAZI SIMON EKPA, instructing him to ‘desist from calling for any Sit-at-Home henceforth’ and ‘to make a public announcement to the effect that he (Mazi Simon Ekpa) is in receipt of a direct order from him (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) to cancel any pending Sit-at-Home in place at the moment’; and also that he (Mazi Nnamdi KAnu) has, by the same order, ‘authorized me to issue a press statement if he (Mazi Simon Ekpa) fails to make this announcement on his platform’.
“For avoidance of doubt, this Direct Order was personally handed to me by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu when I visited him on the said 24th July, 2023 at the headquarters of the Department of State Security (DSS), Abuja. Later that day, I tried to contact Mazi Simon Ekpa via his WhatsApp number but could not reach him until 1:44 A.M. the following day (25th July, 2023), whereupon I snapped the Direct Order as written and sent to him. He thereafter acknowledged receipt and we spoke briefly on it and exchanged a couple text messages thereof.
“Since that early 25th July, 2023 (when I conveyed the Order to Mazi EKPA and he duly acknowledged it, he has not implemented the Order or otherwise made such announcement on his media platform. Nonetheless, I made a conscious decision to give him the benefit of doubt and thereby accord him more time to do the needful.
“Then, late yesterday, further written Instructions was issued by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to me, referring to the extant Direct Order to Mazi Ekpa and, in addition, instructing me that given that Mazi Ekpa has not carried out the Order, I must, as of today, being 28th July 2023, proceed to make the Order public through a Public Announcement/ Press Statement. In the said further Instructions, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu added more pertinent details and instructed that I must equally make them public.
“Accordingly, and as of Counsel, bound by duty and the solemn oath of my noble profession to faithfully and zealously implement my client’s clear instructions without any fear or favor, I now therefore reproduce verbatim the contents of said Direct Order to Mazi Simon Ekpa (at the first Paragraph) and the related further Instructions (from the second Paragraph to the end), as follows:
“Simon, this is a direct order from me. I hereby instruct you to desist from calling for any Sit-at-Home henceforth. Equally refrain from antagonising Governors or persons in political positions because you are not in a position to know what they are doing on my behalf. I am ordering you to make a public announcement to the effect that you are in receipt of a direct order from me to cancel any pending Sit-at-Home in place at the moment. I embarked on this movement to liberate our people not to enslave them. I despise and will despise any person or entity that wishes to inflict unnecessary hardship on our people. I have authorised Aloy to issue a press statement if you fail to make this announcement on your platform.
“Anybody still engaging in Sit-at-Home is not my disciple. Haters of Biafra and mindless murderers in uniform are hiding under the cover of combating enforcers of Sit-at-Home to unleash mayhem against the same people we swore to defend.
“I have sent countless messages to those purportedly enforcing Sit-at-Home that they are not doing so in my name. I am not begging anybody to release me just that Nigeria should have the decency to obey their own laws.
“The main issue which our people should address their minds to is the unconscionable delays in hearing the government appeal at the Supreme Court, which is a situation not amenable to any Sit-at-Home. Therefore Sit-at-Home is a waste of time, resources and energy.
“Those who may not understand the genesis of the Sit-at-Home should refer to my younger brother’s press statement on the eve of the commencement of the original order issued by the IPOB family. My brother made it clear to the DOS that I was against the order for people to stay at home under whatever guise. This caused a rift between my siblings and DOS till date.
“Aloy should use the above contributions to form the main body of the press statement. I want our people to know how this whole sit-at-home brouhaha started. Had DOS obeyed my direct instructions to cancel the first Monday sit-at-home, opportunistic scavengers would not have jumped on the bandwagon to wreak havoc on our people..”
“You (Aloy) must release the press statement tomorrow with the screenshot of the handwritten note I gave to you unfailingly”.
Signed:
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
“In conclusion, I hereby affirm upon my honour as of Counsel that above words (in quotation) and the attached handwritten note are the words of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his handwriting.”
Ekpa, who describes himself as Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government, under Nnamdi Kanu said on Friday: this on Friday.: “Our attention has been drawn to the fake letter from the pit of hell being paraded by Nigerian media claiming that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wrote a letter. It is not only a joke but an insult taken too far that the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra is being misrepresented in this way. As the Prime Minister of Biafra under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, I call on all Biafrans to disregard the fake letter coming from DSS.”
As youths in Enugu picked up the gauntlet in a protest to sensitise residents to go with Kanu’s order, Ejimakor in a tweet on his official handle on Saturday, alleged that Ekpa on July 19 chatted him on WhatsApp demanding to speak with the Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah.
According to a report by Daily Post, the IPOB lawyer alleged in a tweet that Ekpa’s alleged move to speak with the governor was to betray the detained leader of the IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
Ejimakor wrote, “Simon, these screenshots would prove that on 19th July, you begged me to facilitate your desperation to speak with Gov Mba, but I used my ‘number six’ to frustrate it because I knew you will ask him for money in return for betraying MNK. That’s why you disobeyed his order”.
Below is a copy of the 2-paged letter from Kanu to Ekpa:
