The American Military Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) has called on the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to demand the immediate and unconditional release of the Biafra agitator, Nnamdi Kanu, from detention.
Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been in detention for four years.
AVID particularly, asked the United Kingdom government to act decisively in defense of Kanu, being its citizen whose fundamental rights have been flagrantly violated.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, in Abuja, AVID pleaded with the international media to hold the Nigerian government accountable for enabling ethnic cleansing while suppressing dissent.
Apparently reacting to the continued killings in Benue State and some parts of the country, the group claimed that Kanu’s continued detention is the green light for more massacres and pleaded that the world must not stay silent in the matter.
The statement signed by AVID President, Dr. Sylvester Onyia, is titled ‘A Genocide in Slow Motion: Nigerian’s continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu enables widespread atrocities’.
It read in part, “The American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) wishes to draw the urgent attention of the international community, human rights organizations, and global democratic institutions to the ongoing atrocities occurring in Benue State and other indigenous regions of Nigeria.
“These massacres are part of a sustained ethnic cleansing campaign that has accelerated since the illegal abduction and detention of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“Mazi Kanu, a British citizen and prominent voice for indigenous self-determination, was extrajudicially renditioned from Kenya in 2021 in clear violation of international law.
“His continued detention, despite multiple court orders for his release, is not a matter of legal oversight, it is part of a broader, chilling plan to silence resistance against armed Fulani expansionism and enable the violent subjugation of indigenous communities.
“The latest mass killings in Benue State, as reported in the media have exposed the cost of silencing voices of truth.
“Mazi Kanu consistently warned of
this impending horror, the planned domination of indigenous lands through state-sponsored terror disguised as herdsmen attacks.
“His prophetic warnings were ignored. Instead, he was labeled a terrorist, while the actual perpetrators of terror are emboldened by the Nigerian state.
“The world must now ask: Why is a peaceful advocate of self-determination in prison while Fulani militants roam free?
“Why is the Nigerian government more focused on crushing dissent than protecting lives? What role has the silence of international actors played in enabling this genocide-by-default?
“Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention is the green light for more massacres. The world must not stay silent.”
