Sixteen different groups with bases in the south-western part of Nigeria have backed the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as the latter plans a massive sit-at-home protest for Friday, September 19, 2016 to call attention to the continued detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
The groups are fusing under the aegis of Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) and have said they are throwing their weights behind the open protest.
The groups include: The Christian Awareness Mission Group(CAMG), Passengers Fundamental Rights Group (PATRGIA), The Islamic Political Awareness Group (TIPAG), Centre for Social Justice and Equity of Nigeria(CESJEN), Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS), Veteran Groups for Operation Clean Crusade (VGOCC), Apata-Aiyeraye Social Political Volunteer Group (ASPVG), De-Mainstream Independent Group (DMIG) and the Coalition Against Illegal Arrest & Unlawful Detention (CAIA&UD).
Others are the Centre for Constitutional Rights and Counter Corruption Crusader, Save Lagos Group (SLG), The Conscience Mainstream (TCM), African Masses Voices for Survival (AMVS), The Christians Youths for the Peoples’ Rights and Development (CYPRD), Islamic Movement for Muslims’ Rights (IMMR), Divine Nigerians Liberators for Peoples’ Fundamental Rights (DNLPFR) and The Christians Volunteers Groups for Good Governance in Nigeria (TCVGGGN). Kanu has been in detention for many months now.
While members of IPOB and the 16 groups claim that the detention of Kanu was illegal and unconstitutional and must be stopped at all cost, some other Nigerians think he has remained in detention because of his constant change of lawyers.
IPOB said it was preparing for the mass protest and urged Igbo people and all those who believed in the Biafra ideology in the country to sit at home and shutdown their businesses and phones on Friday, September 23, in protest against the alleged illegal detention of Kanu.
The coordinating leader for the 16 groups, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, said in a statement, that they support the proposed peaceful protest to be embarked upon by the members of the IPOB to pressurise the government to unconditionally release Kanu from custody.
The groups condemned Kanu’s detention stating that this was against the principles of democracy that gives the citizens freedom to assemble and express their opinions without hindrance. CHRSJ called on all lovers of democracy in Nigeria and the diaspora to guard against “using brute force of the despotic days of military era on innocent citizens of the country.”
The group said the proposed protest as welcome development in right direction
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