Following the rearrest, recapture, and subsequent arraignment of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which saw him looking dejected while appearing in handcuffs, many Nigerians have accused the federal government of being biased.
Many claim the Buhari-led administration has not pursued the Boko Haram terrorists, armed bandits, and killer Fulani herdsmen with the same zeal. Some have pointed to the fact that when the school children were been kidnapped almost on a daily basis in the North, the Buhari administration negotiated and paid ransom to the bandits instead of capturing them.
Collaged pictures of meetings held with AK-47 wielding bandits with politicians from the north alongside that of a handcuffed Nnamdi Kanu, looking helpless have since become a meme in the internet space. This has led people to conclude that the Federal Government is partial because the killer herdsmen and bandits are of the Northern Nigeria extraction while the IPOB is of Southern Nigeria – the South East to be precised.
However, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has come to the fore to deny any such accusation against the FG while explaining the difference between Nnamdi Kanu and the IPOB when compared with the Boko Haram terrorists, Fulani herdsmen, and armed bandits. He described it as “comparing apples to oranges.”
In an interview with BBC Pidgin monitored by Vanguard, the Kaduna State governor, began by saying he is happy the IPOB leader has been recaptured before explaining that the fact that IPOB has a leader, a recognizable face, and calling for the break up of the Nigerian federation, among other things are the reasons they have to be dealt with decisively.
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“I was very happy (when Nnamdi Kanu was arrested) because, first he jumped bail, jeopardizing his sureties. Secondly, a person that challenges the sovereignty and the authority of a state and incites violence; he refers to his own country as a zoo. This should be a message to all these separatists challenging the authority of the Nigerian State to be very careful.
“Nnamdi Kanu is the leader of IPOB, a proscribed organization. He is identifiable, in constant communication and everyone knows where he is. Let’s take Boko Haram for instance. Shekau was in hiding and for the past 10 years and the military had been waging a war to get him.
“It is not like Shekau was in Saudi Arabia, sitting in one place, tweeting about the break up of Nigeria or asking Boko Haram to go and kill Helen and Nasir el-Rufai. Nnamdi Kanu is in one place while Shekau is waging guerrilla warfare. The insurgency is still going on and the Federal Government is not giving up.
“Regarding bandits, they are not centralized under one leadership. Who is the head of the bandits? Who is the equivalent of Nnamdi Kanu with banditry? Bandits are just collections of independent criminals. It is a business for them. It is not a case of Nigeria must break up.
“I want to challenge anyone to tell me the central leader of bandits in the same position as Kanu.”
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