Nnamdi Kanu explains why he asked for guns from US-based Nigerians
Nnamdi Kanu, the Leader of the Indigenous
People of Biafra (IPOB) has said that the reason he demanded bullets and guns
from a group of US-based Nigerians in the past was not to hurt anyone but for
self-defense against the incessant attacks on Igbos by the Fulani herdsmen.
According to
him, self-defense was recognized by all known laws at the United Nations (UN).
He stated
this during an interview with Adrian Kriesch of German TV station – Deustche
Welle.
Kanu said:
“I am sure you have heard of the Fulani herdsmen killing people all over the
place. How do you intend to defend yourself against Fulani herdsmen without
guns and bullets?
“They have
been killing our people, raping our women, destroying crops in the farms and no
one does anything about it. Is that how human beings are supposed to live?
“We are fighting for independence, not
fighting physically with guns and bullets. We are fighting in terms of our
agitations; we are fighting in terms of our belief; we are fighting in terms of
our consistency to ensure that we free, because we are not free.
“As a free
people, we can afford to make life better for our people. Right now, we cannot
do that because of how Nigeria is structured and because of the flawed
foundation Nigeria rests.”
On the
referendum, he said: “if the government does not agree to that, there will be
no elections in Biafra land. No more elections here.
“They can
put whoever they like in office. They can do whatever they like with their
political positions. We will not engage in any political process.”
On his
detention, he said: “I was not treated fairly because in Nigeria, people behave
like animals; they are not disciplined enough; they are not mentally developed
enough to run a transparent civil society.
“They have a
fiddle mindset where you have the ruling class and a multitude of
poverty-stricken people who never utters any word in rebellion or to even ask
questions about their plight.
“That is one
thing we are determined to challenge.”
He concluded
by saying: “what we are asking the world to recognize is that we want to live
in peace and not in pieces. Allow Biafra to exist. We were existing before the
British came. Just allow us to go back to what we were before.
“No African
came to Europe to create countries. So, for somebody to just come in here and
say ‘you, you, you, and you from today your name is Nigeria’ is simply
laughable.”
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