•Incarcerated IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu
The family of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has warned about individuals impersonating the IPOB leader on social media.
The family of Kanu, who is currently in prison in Sokoto State, in a statement issued today by his younger brother, Emmanuel Kanu, on behalf of the Okwu-Kanu family, noted, “It has come to our attention that fraudulent social media accounts, particularly on Facebook and Instagram, are impersonating Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“These fake pages — often using official-looking logos, claiming locations such as Nairobi or Sokoto, and posting misleading updates— are not associated with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB, or the Kanu family in any way.
“Since his illegal rendition and detention in June 2021, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has had no active or verified online presence on any social media platform.
“He does not operate Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, or any other profiles posting personal messages, location updates, or soliciting engagement.”
The family said the accounts are “part of a sustained deceptive operation, believed to be orchestrated by Nigerian security agencies and their collaborators.”
According to the statement, the objectives of these impostors include: harvesting personal information, contacts, and data from unsuspecting followers; spreading disinformation to damage the reputation of Kanu and IPOB; and provoking or monitoring genuine supporters for potential harassment, surveillance, and arrest.
The family advised the public “not to follow, like, comment on, share, or engage with any such fake pages; to immediately unlike and unfollow any suspicious account claiming to represent Mazi Nnamdi Kanu; to report these fraudulent pages to the platforms as impersonation or scam accounts; and to rely solely on verified IPOB channels, primarily through official handles and trusted media affiliates such as Radio Biafra.”
The statement further warned that anyone choosing to interact with the fake pages does so at their own risk, as exposure of personal details could lead to severe consequences “in the current climate of repression against the Biafran struggle.”
Finally, the family reiterated that Kanu remains committed to the peaceful, non-violent pursuit of self-determination for Biafrans, adding, “We will continue to expose these dirty tactics and call for the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
Kanu was first arrested in October 2015 on charges of treasonable felony but was later released on bail in 2017.
He went into exile in the United Kingdom, from where he continued his activism. In June 2021, he was arrested and brought back to Nigeria from Kenya, where he had been residing, in what he and his supporters describe as an “illegal rendition.”
He has since been held in detention in Nigeria.
