10 months after soldiers struck Nnamdi Kanu’s residence, family seek whereabouts of son
Ten months after soldiers allegedly struck at the Afaraukwu residence, Umuahia, Abia State of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, the Ojigbani family from Oguta Council, Imo State has raised the alarm over the whereabouts of their son, Emmanuel.
Emmanuel, said to be the IPOB Zonal Coordinator in Enugu State and served as Kanu’s Security Officer was allegedly at Kanu’s residence when soldiers on Operation Python Dance stormed the residence in September last year in search of him (Kanu).
He was said to have disappeared since the incident, apparently for fear of his life in the raid that claimed some lives and property.
The distrust family who said they could no longer bear his silence are asking Nigerians to assist unravel his whereabouts.
Members of the family told Journalists in Enugu that Emmanuel who joined the pro-Biafra group in 2015 had not returned home since the Afaraukwu incident, stressing that various search conducted by family members on him had not been successful.
Spokesperson of the family, Obiora Nwokoye, explained that they visited Afaraukwu on a number of occasions after the incident without traces of their brother.
He said, “One thing I can tell you is that he is close to the leader of the IPOB and believes strongly in the struggle for Biafra. He had before that incident survived an attack last year during a peaceful rally in which they clashed with policemen.
They brought him back to Enugu half dead and were rushed to the Parkland general hospital doctors battled to save him.
At the end of the day, surgeries were carried out on one of his eyes that was badly shattered. Even at that he was not deterred and carried on till the last military exercise in Umuahia last year”.
Obiora explained that the family had been forced to make his matter, “public, because it is now 10 full months after that incident. We have heard stories from people who were around the day the action took place and none could point to his location, even when it was established that he is a known person among the members”.
He said he believes that Emmanuel may have gone into hiding for fears that he could be arrested, following the “mystery over the disappearance of the leader of the IPOB who he closely worked with”.
“Yes, I know that since he worked with Kanu, whose whereabouts cannot be ascertained, he may still be living in that fear that he could be called upon to produce the man he served. But whether he can tell about the disappearance of Kanu is what we are not capable of addressing, because, we don’t belong to the IPOB”, he added.
