Nigeria's social media is buzzing with pictures of Nnamdi
Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who's been missing
for over a year, and widely believed to be held by the Nigerian government.
Kanu has not been seen in public since an alleged attack on
his father's compound by soldiers on September 14, 2017, and has missed court
appearances since then. His parents, HRH Eze Israel Kanu and Lolo Sally, have
also been missing in the same period.
However, if pictures that have now surfaced on social media
on Friday, October 19, 2018, are to be believed, the IPOB leader has simply
been in hiding over the past one year.
In a short video that has been published by several
unreliable sources on Twitter and YouTube, Kanu was spotted praying at the
Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
Many people have also posted pictures that the IPOB leader
posed in with other people, with many already speculating the reasons for his
reappearance.
While many people see his reappearance as vindication of the
government's position that Kanu was running from the law, others allege that
he's likely making a reappearance to disrupt the 2019 general elections.
Kanu had previously been reported to have been spotted in
Ghana with his wife, Uchechi, in February 2018, but she claimed weeks later to
be unaware of his whereabouts and accused the government of illegally holding
him hostage.
"Nigerian Army should tell the world what has happened
to him because they were the last people who were in touch with him," she
said.
Pulse cannot independently verify the authenticity of the
pictures and video as of yet as efforts to reach IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful,
have proved abortive.
However, according to a report by The Punch, Kanu's brother,
Emmanuel, confirmed that it was him in the video that's making the rounds on
social media.
Emmanuel also told The Punch that IPOB's deputy director,
Uche Ejiofor, has also confirmed that it was Kanu in the video.
"I can confirm to you that the person in the video is
Kanu. He was praying in the video that we saw. We are happy that he is still
alive and we will try to establish communication with him," he said.
Kanu's troubles with the Nigerian government started after
he was arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) in 2015 and spent two
years in custody until he was granted bail on health grounds in April 2017.
