Some residents of Afarukwu in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State on Monday staged a peaceful protest, calling for the immediate release of the imprisoned leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The protesters marched through major roads in the community, carrying banners and singing solidarity songs in support of Kanu.
Videos shared on X by Kanu’s Special Counsel, Alloy Ejimakor, showed large groups of men and women dressed in traditional attire, red caps and headgear, singing in Igbo: “Nnamdi Kanu bu onyendu anyi, onyendu ka anyi na-eso,” which translates to, “Nnamdi Kanu is our leader, and he is the man we follow.”
The demonstrators also displayed a banner with the inscription: “IPOB Abia State Chapter Declares the Only IPOB Supreme Leader and Director of Radio Biafra: Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu.”
Reacting to the protest, Ejimakor called on South-East governors to work towards a political solution to Kanu’s case.
“As Abia State marches today in the legions for #FreeNnamdiKanu, SE Governors must rise together & impress on President Tinubu to do the right thing by resolving this matter outside of the judicial realm. Despite the unjust conviction, this matter was political from day one,” he wrote.
The latest protest comes as debates continue over Kanu’s conviction. Lawyers and rights advocates in the South-East have maintained that the matter should be resolved politically instead of through prolonged court proceedings.
Kanu is currently serving a life sentence at a Nigerian Correctional Service facility in Sokoto. In November 2025, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him on terrorism-related charges linked to his campaign for an independent Biafra.
Kanu and his supporters have consistently denied the allegations.
Although his appeal is still before the Court of Appeal in Abuja, community leaders and civil society groups in Abia State have continued to urge President Bola Tinubu’s administration to seek a political solution, arguing that it would help promote peace and stability in the South-East.
Recently, United States Congressman John James called for Kanu’s immediate release during a session of the U.S. Congress.
James, who described Nigeria as the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian, urged the Nigerian government to conduct another trial for Kanu in line with the country’s constitution, based on evidence, with access to legal counsel, medical care and international standards for humane detention.
He also alleged that since 2019, many Christians in Nigeria have been killed in what he described as a sustained pattern of religiously motivated violence by Islamist jihadists, which he claimed had been ignored or enabled by the Nigerian government.
According to the lawmaker, extremist groups such as Boko Haram continue to operate without a meaningful response from authorities.
James further claimed that Kanu was convicted in what he described as a false show trial for speaking out about events in Nigeria.
