If for nothing else, the sudden reappearance of Nnamdi Kanu after a year or more accurately after 13 months disappearance proves that sometimes we should take the words of our security personnel seriously. In the wake of the crisis in Umuahia, Abia state, which culminated into his disappearance last year, the Indegenous People of Biafra, IPOB which Kanu led together with other pressure groups and lawyers were very sure that Kanu was killed along with his family members during what was thought to be a fracas between his supporters and a detachment of the military during the Operation Python Dance2.
The bad blood generated by that event sowed layers of discord in the minds of residents of the South East and in particular Abia state and enablers of IPOB activities around the world.
Although, peace returned to the general area, yet, people continued to be suspicious of the disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu. His absence added to the perceived poor human rights records of the government or more particularly the military. Most groups and individuals pummeled the military and accused them of being blood thirsty at the least. They were regularly scorned at and dismissed as the thug arm of the presidency.
Since the disappearance, many persons have come up with all manner of conspiracy theories. While majority claim he and his family members were murdered and buried at sea; others came up with fantastic stories of a naval ship in the high sea where Kanu was being detained.
Last week however, the social media was awash with photos and video clips of the man somewhere that was later identified as Israel. He was praying. This situation has raised all manner of speculations again. How did he get to Israel since his passports are still in the custody of the courts in Nigeria? Also, what happens to his trial as his court proceedings are still pending? The sureties who stood up for him when he was put on trial and as part of the arrangement to set him free put their reputations on the line may rue the reality at present. The man is a flight risk, and their failure to bring Kanu to court will mean that the judge will have to be firm if it wants to be respected. These are sureties who had claimed that it is the military that should know the whereabouts of Kanu who can now be described as a fugitive of the law.
Indeed his appearance in Israel if not an arranged occurrence can spark off a diplomatic row with that Middle Eastern country. Since he is on bail for a serious crime in Nigeria, it is ridiculous to find such a person in another country for whatsoever reasons. It is a slap on our country’s sovereignty if Israel does not arrest and repatriate the fugitive as quickly as possible. But this can only happen in an ideal situation. The issues surrounding the IPOB leader are not normal. There are many angles to it and more importantly there are political angles to it. It appears to us that this government will not push for the right thing to be done by Israel because of the emotional blackmail it will generate at home. Politicians will exploit such a situation for their own ends; although that’s what politics is about, exploitation of your opponents’ weak points. However, there should be time for patriotism by all political tendencies.
On the other hand, we hope that Kanu has not appeared for political gains. To be fair to all factions of our political elite, the IPOB leader will not help any of them. So there is no need to try to exploit his sudden reappearance. It will end in disaster if they do.
People should just leave the man and his machinations. His conduct has shown that he is not man of his words. His disappearance, reappearance and narratives that trailed the Umuahia fracas last year have shown that this is simply propaganda gone badly. The media and civil society groups should be circumspect in reporting or building support for characters like Kanu and movements like IPOB. They appear not to be genuine, rather they tug on our nation’s fears to divide us the more and elevate bigotry which they later benefit from. IPOB and its leader have not advanced our issues in any way. Instead they have compounded them and went ahead to use same platform to earn personal pecuniary benefits to the detriment of unsuspecting followers.
