Pan-Igbo advocacy group Ikenga Think-Tank has issued a powerful rallying call to Nigerians across ethnic and religious divides, urging mass participation in the planned #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest scheduled for Monday, 20 October.
The protest, spearheaded by human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, aims to demand the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who has been in detention since his controversial arrest and extradition from Kenya in 2021.
In a statement issued Saturday and signed by Dr Dunkwu Agbambu, Ikenga Think-Tank called the protest a necessary act of unity and justice. Titled “The People’s Communique for Justice and Liberation”, the declaration positioned Kanu’s incarceration as symbolic of broader oppression across Nigeria.
“Nnamdi Kanu was not fighting for the Igbo alone, but for all oppressed Nigerians,” the group stated, urging youths, students, ethnic nationalities, and working-class citizens to rise in solidarity and take to the streets in peaceful protest.
The statement was infused with powerful historical and emotional appeals, invoking the names of prominent figures like Queen Amina, Ojukwu, Obafemi Awolowo, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and Isaac Boro, while condemning what it described as “Fulani terrorism,” judicial corruption, and government silence in the face of national insecurity and poverty.
“Our political systems have become tools of enslavement… yet amidst this darkness, one voice rose — the voice of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” the group said, arguing that his warnings about systemic decay in Nigeria have come true.
Describing the movement as non-violent but unrelenting, the Ikenga Think-Tank stressed that the protest is not an attack on the state but a legitimate outcry for justice and freedom.
“We are not enemies of the state; we are the soul of the nation… We demand justice, not war,” the group said, calling on Nigerians from Aso Rock to the Delta Creeks, from Lagos to Enugu to occupy public spaces until their demands are heard.
Amid concerns raised by law enforcement agencies and a court order restricting protests around key government areas, the group nonetheless insisted that if Nigerians unite in purpose, no force could stop the protest.
“Let every street in Nigeria become a voice. Let Abuja shake under the footsteps of a united people. Let the gates of Aso Rock hear the cry of the forgotten,” the statement added.
The Ikenga Think-Tank concluded by calling for discipline and restraint during the protests, even as they vowed to maintain their presence in Abuja until Kanu’s release is secured.
