Biafra: IPOB Leader Nnamdi Kanu Reveals How He Left Nigeria
The leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu has revealed that he took the coastal route in Abia State to escape from Nigeria, Naijaparry reports.
This news platform understands that the pro-Biafra leader escaped from the country in 2017 during the Nigerian Army Operation Python Dance.
According to the IPOB leader, he left Nigeria from his Afaraukwu, Umuahia residence in Abia from Azumiri in the coastal area of the state.
He added that it was from there (Azumiri) that he entered the Republic of Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast before the got to Senegal.
Furthermore, he said it took him close to one year before he landed in Israel after leaving Nigeria, saying it was the toughest period of his life.
“We were able to rent a boat on the coast. We left from a small town in Abia, Azumiri, an unobtrusive place where the Nigerian authorities might not have thought to look,” Kanu told Sun.
“We planned to go to the Republic of Benin, just west of Nigeria. For 14 days we travelled in dangerous seas in a small boat with an outboard motor.
“The Atlantic off that coast is heavy, stormy, and treacherous; on more than one occasion waves threatened to swamp our little craft.
“I was still gravely injured and in need of constant medical attention. At one point we put ashore to find ice to keep the medication I needed chilled. It was a dangerous time. I stayed hidden in a room while my companions went foraging for supplies.
“From Benin, I travelled by road to Senegal, a distance of nearly 2,000 kilometres. Once in Senegal, I was able to make arrangements to travel to Israel. None of these journeys was easy.”
Speaking further, he said: “I was still in pain and the threat from Nigerian agents abroad never went away. When we stopped to rest on the road, I couldn’t go out.
“My world was shrunk to a room with a window, and sometimes not even that. I might as well have been in prison.
“Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, all the countries I had to pass through rely economically on Nigeria, their governments corrupt enough to arrest me and send me back. I had to stay silent, unknown.
“I couldn’t even tell my wife or family where I was, just in case they became targets. It was agonising to realise that they didn’t know if I was dead or alive.
“Israel was a haven for me, but it took over a year to get there, and only then did I feel confident enough to let my fellow IPOB family members and immediate family know I was safe.”