IPOB Suspends Nnamdi Kanu from Leadership

The banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has suspended the office of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and the position of Director of Radio Biafra.

The decision followed a full‑house meeting of the IPOB Directorate on Wednesday, during which the leadership reviewed intelligence reports about communications from Kanu while he is incarcerated in Sokoto prison. A statement issued on Thursday and signed by Mazi Chikadibia Edoziem, Head of the Directorate of State of IPOB, confirmed the move.

According to the group, a Directorate of State will now administer the organisation’s affairs and oversee its movements. The leadership clarified that IPOB was “formed and nurtured by a group of Biafrans in the Diaspora (not by any singular individual)” and stressed that no single person can dissolve the Directorate of State, which remains the apex leadership structure.

The statement said the action was taken after the group became “mindful that certain unguarded communications from Sokoto prison to those in Biafraland have caused unnecessary arrests and the death of IPOB family members in Biafraland.”

The leadership noted that Kanu’s visitors and activities are closely monitored by the Department of State Services (DSS) and expressed concern over a separate plan by certain individuals to establish a new militia that could trigger another round of violence in the region.

The suspension is intended to “prevent unchecked actions, reckless assumption of authority and unguarded utterances from resulting in the reckless arrests, torture and needless death of Biafran youths.”

It also declared that any criminal activity carried out in the name of the suspended office will no longer be blamed on the group, adding that “IPOB shall henceforth not be held accountable for actions of individuals or groups of individuals not holding any active position within IPOB.”

The development follows reports on Wednesday that Kanu had dissolved the third administration of the Directorate of State (DOS) of the organisation. Pursuant to his declared authority, Kanu reportedly inaugurated a fourth administration of the DOS and appointed US‑based Mazi Chris Nwagọ as the new Head of the Directorate of State.

According to a statement from spokesperson Emma Powerful, Nwagọ was tasked with assuming immediate responsibility for the administration, coordination, and day‑to‑day management of IPOB affairs under Kanu’s direct authority.

The DOS was originally established by Kanu in 2012 as the administrative arm of IPOB. It was previously led by Dr. Justin Akujieze in the United States, Mazi Uchenna Asiegbu in Spain, and Chika Edoziem in Switzerland, who was appointed to the third administration in March 2017 during Kanu’s prior detention at Kuje Prison.