Family of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has cautioned against the issuance of unauthorised statements about the condition or feelings of the IPOB leader.
The family was reacting to a viral statement by the President-General of Igbo Community Association, ICA, FCT, Engr Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe, which quoted Kanu as being “confident of his release from the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, by April.”
According to the statement trending on media platforms, Kanu reportedly knocked Igbo political leaders for neglecting him.
The president-general was said to have issued the statement after his visit to Kanu at the DSS headquarters in Abuja on April 2.
Ezenekwe, in the statement, claimed that “Kanu, despite being in detention, appeared healthy, had gained weight and remained in high spirits.”
The ICA leader claimed that Kanu “expressed hope that the courts would grant him freedom in the coming weeks.”
But in a swift reaction, Kanu’s family said any statement purported to have emanated from the IPOB leader without passing through his lawyers or the family should be disregarded.
The family, in a statement by Prince Emmanuel Kanu, said only Kanu’s lawyers or family could release any reliable information about him.
The family advised members of the public to refrain from issuing or spreading unauthorised information about him.
“While we are not against concerned persons, especially Igbo leaders from visiting our son, it is inappropriate for unauthorised persons to be issuing statements that could further complicate issues for him.
“We, therefore, advise that his visitors should seek clearance from his lawyers or the family before going public on any interactions with Nnamdi Kanu.”
Kanu has been in solitary confinement at the DSS since he was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria in June 2021.
Despite initial court judgments ordering his immediate and unconstitutional release, the federal government has refused to let him off the hook.
