Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, did not have any weapons in his possessions when agents of the Department of State Security (DSS) arrested him on October 15, 2015.
A document compiled by the DSS and exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters show that no weapons were among the personal items in Mr. Kanu’s possession at the time of his arrest. Mr. Kanu is also the director of Radio Biafra, a clandestine station that broadcasts pro-Biafra messages.
Since Mr. Kanu’s arrest at Tulip Hotel in Lagos, Lagos State, there had been rumors on social media that Nigerian security agents had discovered several guns and other weapons among his belongings.
The handwritten DSS document show that the list of items belonging to Mr. Kanu included numerous pieces of technology and digital communications equipment. The Biafran agitator had four laptop computers, two iPads, five computer modems, six mobile phones, thirty-eight SIM cards for various mobile networks, one Alexis Multimix transmitter, and several mixers and microphone equipment for recording.
The DSS document did not specify whether the technical and communications equipment were being actively used for Radio Biafra broadcasts at the time of Mr. Kanu’s arrest.
Other items belonging to Mr. Kanu, and listed in the DSSdocument, included Pierre Cardin trinkets, an assortment of colognes and body oils, male clothing, eyeglasses, and wristwatches.
Even though the DSS arrested Mr. Kanu in Lagos, they subsequently moved the fierce advocate for Biafran secession to Abuja where they detained him for weeks without formal charge. Mr. Kanu’s legal team has alleged that, while in confinement, their client was denied medical and legal attention for several weeks before being formally charged for crimes against the state.
After the government withdrew the initial charges against Mr. Kanu, DSS agents rearrested the Biafran agitator on fresh charges that were filed at a Federal High Court. The case against the IPOB leader is winding through the judicial system.
The full list of items confiscated by the DSS can be found in documents below:
