Nigerian court orders separatist Igbo chief’s arrest

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - A Nigerian court on Thursday ordered the arrest of an Igbo separatist leader after he repeatedly failed to appear for his treason trial proceedings.

The court directed security forces to produce Nnamdi Kanu, chief of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a movement that seeks to carve out a separate homeland for the country's ethnic Igbo population.

Until Kanu can be produced in court, Judge Binta Nyako said the "only option" was for proceedings to continue in his absence.

"In the absence of any reasonable explanation for his absence, I hereby revoke his bail and order that a bench warrant be issued for his arrest," she added.

Nyako cited Kanu's failure to honor the conditions attached to his temporary freedom -- including refraining from addressing a political rally or making inflammatory comments -- and withdrawing all of his sureties who said they could not account for him anymore.

Kanu is suspected to have fled Nigeria following an army crackdown on his house in southeastern region of the country. The crackdown followed his alleged training of armed forces and continued ethno-religious incitement as shown in footage promoted by the IPOB.

Recent footage purportedly showed him in Israel threatening to balkanize the country -- a treasonable offence under the Nigerian law.

At least four other IPOB members are standing alongside Kanu on trial, which has adjourned proceedings until June 18.

A Briton-Nigerian, Kanu was first arrested in the capital city of Abuja on his arrival from Britain in 2015 for secessionist activities and ethnic incitement against other tribes, raising tensions in the deeply fractured country.

He had repeatedly solicited for arms to fight Nigeria in an insurgency reminiscent of the country’s civil war of 1967 in which over a million Igbo died in a botched separatist attempt.