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Confusion as IPOB announces Nnamdi Kanu’s sack

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The Director of Strategy and Documentation of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Olisa Mbakwe on Monday announced that its leader, Nnamdi Kanu has been sacked from the group.

Mbakwe said Kanu was fired for placing more value on his dog than those murdered in the struggle for the realisation of Biafra.

Speaking during Sunday’s broadcast from his base in Israel, Kanu mourned his dog and “a few other people” in his compound, who lost their lives when military men invaded the place in September 2017.

Kanu had said during the broadcast, “The Army of the zoo killed my dog Jack and a few other people in my compound. I am sorry for what my sureties are passing through, but I want to assure them that they will have a special place in Biafra. I shall not be honouring the court.”

Reacting, Mbakwe described Kanu as an “insensitive and callous leader that has no value for his own followers but rather his dog, Jack whom he paid tributes to after his long disappearance from the struggle”.

In a statement he personally signed, Mbakwe, of IPOB, also insisted that Kanu was a “traitor not worthy of any leadership position anywhere in the world”.

He stated that Kanu was removed for reasons which included, “personalisation of the Biafran struggle and derailing from the core objectives of IPOB as a grassroots movement”.

The statement read: “On Sunday, October 21, 2018, an individual, Mazi Nnamdi Nwanekaenyi Kanu, claiming to be the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Director General of Radio Biafra made a live broadcast that has left us perplexed, because it is unthinkable that someone will impersonate IPOB to the point of plotting to abuse the organization to hurt the interest of Biafra.

“The strength of the Republic of Biafra that we are struggling to actualize, is in its human resources as embodied in our versatile youths that dominate the fields of play across sectors of human endeavor; the country we have set our vision on creating is therefore not to be made up of tombstones but of people fulfilling their life missions as ordained by God.

“Nnamdi Kanu relinquished his position as the leader of IPOB struggle the day he deserted our members to die, when they had mobilized to stand for our belief in Biafra at his residence in Afaraukwu. Several of our members were injured and some died in that encounter and even after emerging from hiding more than one year later all Kanu could do was to desecrate their memory with his radio broadcast. Nnamdi Kanu vividly, specifically and particularly recalled his family dog, Jack, by name while he dismissed our members that died as mere statistics — he only recalled them as 28 IPOB members.

“Even if Kanu had not deserted, there is no way we would have continued under the leadership of a man that values his family dog more than Biafrans.

“We are not unmindful of how Kanu struck the deal that granted him bail in the first place while abandoning our members, Benjamin Madubugwu, David Nwawusi, Bright Chimezie Ishinwa and Chidiebere Onwudiwe to languish in jail. Instead of using his freedom to accelerate the freedom of these authentic freedom fighters, he rather went about Biafra land receiving obeisance from Biafrans like a monarch, when our dear land is completely republican. The travails of these our brothers are not over yet and might have been worsened by Kanu’s live broadcast, which has totally upset us.

“In line with the decisions earlier announced on Radio Biafra on November 17, 2017 that Mazi Ezenwachukwu Sampson Okwudili is the new director for the radio, we reaffirm that Mazi Nnamdi Nwanekaenyi Kanu remains sacked as the Director of Radio Biafra and has also been removed as the leader of IPOB since he has proven he is not a worthy leader that respects the sanctity of the lives of our members.

“Following interventions by our leaders, considerations were being made to reverse the earlier announcement but after studying the Kanu’s live broadcast from Israel we came to the painful conclusion that we cannot make progress with our vision of Biafra, when one man has completely personalized and commercialized the struggle. The decision to drop Nnamdi Kanu from playing leading roles in IPOB affairs is hereby upheld. We shall announce replacements after consultations with the various stakeholders.”

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‘If You Want It Dirty, You’ll Get It Dirty’, Benue Diaspora DG Escalates Threat Against National Record Reporter

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National Record Reporter vs Benue State Government

The Editor-in-Chief of National Record, Iduh L. Onah, has raised alarm over what he described as ‘grave threats’ issued against one of the online newspaper’s reporters, Mr. Amos Aar, by the Director-General of the Benue State Directorate of Diaspora Linkages and Investments, Professor Abraham Tartenger Girgih.

In a letter dated June 25, 2025, addressed to Prof. Girgih and made available to the press, National Record condemned what it called “unwarranted threats” following the publication of a report on the funding challenges being faced by the Directorate under the DG’s leadership since its formation in 2024.

According to Onah, while the publication welcomes robust engagement in the form of rejoinders on stories perceived to contain among other things misinformation, misrepresentation or distortion, no one has the right to issue threats.

“While it is within your right to respond to perceived misinformation or misrepresentation and distortion or outright fabrication, in any publication, it is, however, beyond that right to issue a threat as grave as “dire consequences”, Onah stated.

The Editor-in-Chief further noted that the situation escalated after the publication of a follow-up report when Prof. Girgih called the correspondent and made what the paper considers to be a further threat.

“After the publication of the threat and other claims in your rejoinder, you again went ahead to issue what we deemed to be further grave threat when you stated: “…if you want it dirty, you will get it dirty”, among other words perceived as veiled threat, in a telephone conversation you had with our correspondent shortly after you may have read our follow-up report,” stated the Editor-in-Chief.

The management of National Record expressed deep concern for the safety of its correspondent and other staff, especially given the hostile tone of Prof. Girgih in his conversation with the reporter.

The media organization said it is taking steps to notify security agencies, the Benue State Government, and professional journalism bodies about the threats, while also demanding a written assurance from Prof. Girgih that no harm will befall Mr. Aar or any member of the newspaper’s staff.

“We demand from you a written assurance of Mr Aar’s safety from harm and that of our other staff, and a further commitment to desist from harassing, heckling, intimidating or bullying us in whatever manner,” Onah wrote.

While no official response had been received from Prof. Girgih as at press time, National Record expressed hope for civility going forward and reiterated its commitment to its constitutional mandate as a stakeholder in the Fourth Estate of the Realm.

The letter reads in full:

Professor Abaham Tartenger Girgih

The Director-General   

Directorate of Diaspora Linkages and investments

Makurdi, Benue State.

Dear Prof. Girgih;

THREATS ON OUR PERSONNEL AND ORGANISATION

On behalf of the Management of Contest Communications Limited, publishers of National Record, I bring you warm fraternal greetings.

We wish to express our dismay and concern over your threat on our Benue State Correspondent, Mr Amos Aar, in particular, and generally, our entire organisation, as contained in your rejoinder to a report we had published on challenges being faced by the agency which you head.

While it is within your right to respond to perceived misinformation or misrepresentation and distortion or outright fabrication, in any publication, it is, however, beyond that right to issue a threat as grave as “dire consequences”.

After the publication of the threat and other claims in your rejoinder, you again went ahead to issue what we deemed to be further grave threat when you stated: “…if you want it dirty, you will get it dirty”, among other words perceived as veiled threat, in a telephone conversation you had with our correspondent shortly after you may have read our follow-up report.

While we intend to take steps to formally note these threats before the appropriate security agencies, the Benue State Government under which you are serving, as well as our professional organisations nationally; we wish to inform you that the life of our Benue State Correspondent, Amos Aar, and our entire personnel, remains insecure in the context of your threats.

In that regard, we demand from you a written assurance of Mr Aar’s safety from harm and that of our other staff, and a further commitment to desist from harassing, heckling, intimidating or bullying us in whatever manner from carrying out our constitutional mandate as key stakeholders in the Fourth Estate of the Realm.

As we look forward to relating with you in formal, civilised manner, and prompt action on our demands, please, accept the assurances of our esteemed regards.

Iduh L. Onah

Editor-in-Chief

National Record (https://nationalrecord.com.ng)

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Gov Mbah Inaugurates Committee to End Gender-Based Violence in Enugu

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The Enugu State government has inaugurated a steering committee to eliminate Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in the state, declaring zero tolerance for the social malaise.

The inauguration took place at the Government House Enugu.

The panel, which is chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, draws its membership from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education as well as the Civil Society.

Inaugurating the panel known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence/Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah restated his administration’s commitment to not bringing perpetrators of GBV to book, but also putting in place proactive measures – activities, infrastructure, and systems in place to prevent them.

Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.

“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check-off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.

“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”

He however, said that the effort was to protect everyone, men and women alike, as GBV was not restricted to any gender.

“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.

“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.

In her remark, Mrs. Enih, explained that the Oputa Panel approach was inspired by the need to cover all local peculiarities in domesticating the policy on GBV, restarting government’s confidence in the members of the panel.

“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.

“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.

“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.

“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek for the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.

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Emulate Christ’s virtues, Glo urges Christians at Easter

Reporter: Sandra Ani

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Glo and Globacom
Globacom

Digital solutions provider, Globacom, has congratulated Christians in Nigeria on this year’s Easter celebration, and urged them to emulate the noble qualities of Jesus Christ.  

The company, in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful in the country, lauded their perseverance through the Lenten period which preceded Easter. It enjoined them to always promote the ideals of selflessness, love and peace among all as a way of demonstrating the virtues of the exemplary life of Jesus Christ. 

“Peace, love and sacrifice are the central message of Easter. Christ offered himself in atonement for the sins of the world and he lived a life which made Him an eternal symbol of peace and goodwill for mankind”, Globacom added. 

The company enjoined all Nigerians to share in the lessons of promoting selflessness, a necessary ingredient in the growth and development of every society. It also enjoined all Nigerians to join hands to make Nigeria a better place for all. 

Easter is celebrated yearly at the end of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer considered as a ritual of purification for the Christian faithful. It also precedes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday and His eventual resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The company assured its customers of seamless voice, data and Short Messaging Service (SMS) during and after the Easter celebrations, while urging them to avail themselves of the various data and voice offerings on the network.

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