The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has suspended the office of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, along with the position of Director of Radio Biafra, following a full-house meeting of its Directorate of State held on Wednesday.
The decision was announced in a statement signed by Mazi Chikadibia Edoziem, Head of the Directorate of State, and released on Thursday. According to the statement, the Directorate will now take full administrative control of the organisation and oversee the movement going forward.
IPOB argued that the group “was formed and nurtured by a group of Biafrans in the Diaspora — not by any singular individual,” and stressed that no individual holds the authority to dissolve the Directorate of State, which it described as the apex leadership structure of the organisation.
The group said the suspension followed a review of intelligence reports tied to communications emanating from Kanu’s place of detention at Sokoto prison, warning that certain communications had led to “unnecessary arrests and death of IPOB family members in Biafraland.” It also alleged that Kanu’s visitors and activities were under active surveillance by the Department of State Services (DSS).
IPOB Warns Against New Militia Plans
Beyond the leadership shake-up, IPOB raised alarm over alleged plans by unnamed individuals to form a new militia, cautioning that such a move risked igniting fresh violence in the region. The group said the suspension was necessary to “prevent unchecked actions, reckless assumption of authority, and unguarded utterances from resulting in the reckless arrests, torture and needless death of Biafran youths.”
It further distanced itself from any criminal activity carried out in the name of the now-suspended office, stating that the organisation would no longer be held accountable for the actions of individuals or groups not holding active positions within IPOB.
Kanu’s Rival Move
The suspension came amid reports that Kanu had, from detention, dissolved the third administration of the Directorate of State and inaugurated a fourth — appointing US-based Mazi Chris Nwaọgụ as the new Head of the Directorate. A statement attributed to IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful indicated that Nwaọgụ had been directed to assume responsibility for the administration and day-to-day management of IPOB affairs under Kanu’s authority.
The Directorate of State, established in 2012 as IPOB’s administrative arm, has been led by several figures across different countries, including Dr Justin Akujieze in the United States, Mazi Uchenna Asiegbu in Spain, and Chika Edoziem in Switzerland — the latter appointed in March 2017 during Kanu’s earlier detention at Kuje Prison.
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