Nnamdi Kanu throws his weight Benue government as it opposes turbaning of Sardauna of Otukpo

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (Ipob) leader Nnamdi Kanu has waded into the ongoing furore over the turbaning of a Sardauna of Otukpo saying he will oppose it vehemently because Benue State in part of Biafraland.

Mr Kanu and Ipob have been fighting to recreate the defunct Republic Biafra which existed briefly between July 1967 and January 1970 during the Nigerian civil war. However, Ipob's new Biafra includes parts of Benue, Edo and Delta states which were not part of the original republic because according to Mr Kanu, Igbo people are native to these areas.

Over the last week, the Hausa-Fulani community in Benue State have sought to turban one Alhaji Bala Bello Muhammad as the Sardauna of Otukpo. In a swift response the Benue State government has rejected the proposal and Mr Kanu has said Ipob backs this stance, warning that no part of Biafra land will be surrendered to the Fulani.

Benson Abounu, the deputy governor of Benue State, said he had reached out to the leader of the Hausa community in Otukpo, Alhaji Mamuda and informed him that there is nothing like the Sardauna of Otukpo in the Benue State Chieftaincy Laws of 2016. He also directed Alhaji Mamuda to call off the intended coronation which he accepted to comply with.

Mr Kanui said: “Yoruba lost Ilorin, Hausa lost Gobir o present day Sokoto, the Nupe lost Bida, the Attah of Igala was forcibly converted to Islam with some of his people and  Otukpo will be the next to fall to the relentless march of the Fulani as some of you continue to ignorantly mouth your one Nigeria gibberish or Igbo presidency.  Some elements from these Fulani conquered areas are busy helping their conquerors to conquer Biafraland. How pathetic!

“I have news for all of you agents of Fulani. In the south, no inch of Biafran territory will be surrendered to your masters from the Sahel. In Biafraland we would rather all die that cede our ancestral lands to savages.”