EXPOSED: Real Reason Tinubu Transferred Nnamdi Kanu To Sokoto Prison
Omoyele Sowore, Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, has confirmed that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has secretly transferred IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to a correctional facility in Sokoto State, warning that the move poses severe risks to his safety.
Sowore made this known on Friday, a day after Justice Mobolaji Omotosho convicted Kanu on seven-count charges and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Speaking on Friday, Sowore in a post accused the Nigerian government of implementing a covert plan to isolate Kanu in what he described as a notorious prison in northern Nigeria.
“Yes, they have already planned it. Their intention since yesterday was to move Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to a notorious prison based in the northern parts, where his safety cannot be guaranteed. I can confirm now that he’s already in Sokoto prison,” Sowore said.
According to Sowore, government officials feared that placing Kanu in Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja would turn the facility into a “pilgrimage ground” for supporters from across the South-East.
“They openly said he would “become a king” if taken to Kuje correctional center in Abuja, because according to them, “Igbo people” and his supporters would turn Kuje into a place of pilgrimage.
“That is why they are desperate to keep him far away, isolated, and vulnerable.”
The former presidential candidate stated that government-aligned actors are now engaged in what he described as a psychological operation to manipulate public perception and weaken calls for Kanu’s freedom.
“It is also why they activated their cronies to start selling the illusion of “renewed hope” for MNK, a psychological tactic to keep the public calm while they execute their darkest agenda. Their plan is simple it is to keep your hopes alive just long enough for him to die in custody.”
“They have no intention of releasing him, not even for political calculations or electoral convenience.
“I have said it before without fear, MNK’s greatest enemies are the politicians from his own region. They fear his influence, they fear his connection to the people, and they want him silenced permanently. This is why they fought tooth and nail to frustrate our #FreeNnamdiKanuNOW protest.
“Do not say I didn’t warn you,” Sowore added.
Nnamdi Kanu’s legal team had condemned the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which on Thursday convicted and sentenced the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to life imprisonment on terrorism charges.
The lawyers had described the verdict delivered by Justice James Omotosho as “a travesty of justice” and vowed to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
Speaking to journalists after the court session, Kanu’s special counsel, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, said the ruling marked a dark day in Nigeria’s judicial history.
“Today will forever be in Nigeria history. Today is the only day I have witnessed a man being convicted for just what he said from his mouth, not what he did with his own hands,” Ejimakor said.
Ejimakor argued that the evidence presented in court did not support the conviction handed down.
“The verdict is not consistent with the evidence laid before the court. The sentence is overbroad, cruel and unusual,” he said.
“How can you convict a man for making a mere broadcast from a location that was never named, and you never tied that broadcast to any single incidents of violence, or even someone slapping someone, not to talk of terrorism?”
He insisted that Kanu’s advocacy for self-determination did not amount to a criminal act.
“To pursue a separate nation of yours is not a crime. In Nigeria today, if somebody says, ‘don’t be silly’, he will get convicted.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu made broadcasts, and so what? You convict him for terrorism for mere words in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What kind of presidence is being laid?”
Ejimakor said the team would immediately begin the appeal process.
“From here we are heading to the Court of Appeal. We are going to approach the justices there to check out what happened here today.
“We are very sure that justices there will agree that today was a symbol of travesty of justice that everybody has been suspecting all along.
“If the Court of Appeal disagrees with us, we will head to the Supreme Court, but by God Almighty, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not going to stand convicted. It is going to get overturned.”
