The family of Nnamdi Kanu has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the Nigerian Government and South-East political leaders to assassinate the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader in Sokoto Prison.
According to reports, Kanu was moved to Sokoto Prison on Friday.
Kanu was on Thursday convicted of terrorism and sentenced to life imprisonment by an Abuja Federal High Court presided over by Justice James Omotosho, after a trial that lasted nearly 10 years.
The IPOB leader had been detained in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, throughout the trial. However, the judge, while sentencing him, ordered that he be transferred to prison.
Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, who spoke on behalf of the family, raised the alarm over the alleged assassination plot on Friday.
While confirming the IPOB leader’s relocation to Sokoto Prison, Prince Emmanuel expressed deep concern, alleging that the Nigerian Government and South-East political leaders intend to assassinate Kanu in the facility.
“Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been moved to Sokoto Prison. That is where the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government and South-East political leaders intend to finish what they have started by assassinating him,” Prince Emmanuel said.
He claimed that the government decided to move Kanu to Sokoto to make it difficult for family members to visit him.
Prince Emmanuel lamented that it would be easier for the government and “the collaborators” to harm Nnamdi Kanu in such a “remote location”.
He also expressed concern that “insurgents” might target the IPOB leader in the Sokoto prison facility.
“We are calling on Nigerians and the international community to take note that the relocation of Nnamdi Kanu to Sokoto Prison is aimed at perfecting a plot to assassinate him in the remote prison facility,” Prince Emmanuel added.
Reactions have continued to trail Kanu’s conviction and sentencing.
His lawyers have vowed to appeal the judgment.
IPOB and a coalition of rights activists, comprising the American Veterans of Igbo Descent, Ambassadors for Self Determination, and the Rising Sun Foundation, have also faulted the judgment.
