The Biafra admin office Kanu never occupied
From OKEY SAMPSON, Aba
Since Sunday, September 10, when news went viral that soldiers of the special internal security operations unit, Operation Python Dance, had invaded the home of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, at Afaraukwu, Umuahia, Abia State, shooting their way through and leaving some members of the community dead and wounded in the wake of the invasion, there have been claims and counter claims about the whereabouts of the man in the eye of the storm.
While Nnamdi Kanu’s immediate family, his lawyer and IPOB are claiming that the invading troops of Operation Python Dance 11 had killed and taken away, the bodies of not only their son and leader, but also of his parents, the army and the police, have denied several times that the mystery man of the East or Biafra and his parents are with them.
On the trail of Nnamdi Kanu
But despite the claims and counterclaims, accusations and denials, a big question had continued to hang over the Army invasion and the disappearance of the IPOB leader. Where is Nnamdi Kanu? Since the soldiers surrounded his family house and community, allowing nobody in or out, hours before storming the place in a blaze of gunfire, he must be hiding somewhere in his hometown, you told yourself.
Moreover, with the famous Ojukwu Bunker, the intricate underground network of iron and concrete-reinforced bomb-proof hideout that provided shelter, from incessant Nigerian air-raids, for the late Biafra warlord, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, during the Nigerian Civil War, located within the very heart of the town, you guessed he must be hiding in there, if truly, as the troops of Operation Python Dance and other Nigerian security outfits claim, he is not with them. In fact, there have been some rumours making the rounds to that effect, recently.
So? Determined to unravel the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the missing IPOB leader Kanu, to his family house at Afaraukwu, to the bushes and forests in the community and finally to Ojukwu Bunker, you went. With your heart palpitating and your lips engaged in silent prayers, you moved closer to Kanu’s family compound at Afaraukwu, Umuahia. But, everywhere was quite, eerily so like a graveyard. And, to think that this was a place throbbing with people, a lot of them – family members, community people and IPOB members before the invasion!
In your trepidation, you peeped in to see whether you could see anybody to talk to. Man, woman, children, just anybody. But you found the completely deserted and desolate compound gaping at you! You looked harder to see whether you can see signs of moving things in the compound. Chickens! Dogs! Pussy cats! Behold, there was none. The place was as dead as a doornail. As you moved closer, you found bullet marks on the walls – an indication of how the ‘war’ was fought and won. Outside the compound you found carcasses of burnt cars obviously destroyed during the operation. Other than that, there was no sign of life anywhere.
Earlier, you’d noticed that, with the exception of few people going about their businesses, the community appears deserted as well. But, please, don’t ask them to talk to you about the whereabouts of Nnamdi Kanu. They won’t. Soon, you learnt some tricks: those who know are not at home; those at home do not know and therefore do not want to talk about it.
Fear still envelopes Afaraukwu
As you stood outside wondering what to do or where to go next, two middle-aged men hurriedly walked past you while looking at you in a way that suggest that they were wondering who you are and what you were doing there. You approached them, introduced yourself and asked if you might talk to them. It turned out that they had been reading your stories and seemed familiar with the name but getting them to talk was as tasking as making the 64 kilometres or so journey from Aba to Umuahia. Eventually, a deal was struck and they agreed to speak only if their names would not be mentioned in print, a request that was granted without hesitation.
“Apart from Nnamdi our son, we’ve also not set eyes on his parents. That’s why we are telling those who are holding them to produce them wherever they may have kept them,” one of them said as you asked about what they know about his whereabouts and present state. “We want to see them, we want to talk to them, we want to communicate with them. And, if they are dead, we want to see their corpses so that we can give them decent burial. They deserve that right.”
The second man who confessed that they have been living in fear since soldiers invaded the community in search of Nnamdi Kanu pleaded that Afaraukwu people are non-violent and therefore do not deserve the kind of humiliating treatment they are going through now as a result of frequent patrol of their community by soldiers and mobile policemen.
“Soldiers patrol the community every other time,” he claimed. “Police also patrol this community in their numbers at will, so, we don’t know for how long this will continue. It is an invasion aimed at destroying not only IPOB but also the community. I wish you had been around when they invaded this community and the day after. Afaraukwu was like a ghost town. You know what it means invading a community, shooting anything at sight and killing them; it was a very nasty, horrible and barbaric experience.”
He ended his tales of woesby informing you that the invasion affected the community in so many ways as people no longer feel free to visit them while those residing within the community no longer feel free to move about. They are thinking of taking a legal action against the Federal Government, but he would not like to go into details, he said.
You asked about the history of the community and the first man you spoke with noted that Afaraukwu is an ancient community that pre-dated the coming of the colonial masters.
“It’s a very peaceful and loving community where people co-exist, where people love each other and go about their normal businesses,” he said. “Uptill what happened recently, Afaraukwu has always been a peace-loving place. We have very enlightened and well educated people who have served in the government of this very country and they contributed their best. We gave most of our choice areas of land to state and federal governments; we have contributed immensely to the development of the country, so, invading our community the way the military did was a bad way of paying us back.”
Probing further
But don’t ask them to talk to you about Nnamdi Kanu. They won’t. In fact, pressurising them to do so may even boomerang and raise suspicion in their minds over who you claim to be. So, leaving them, you placed a call to Nnamdi Kanu’s younger brother, Emmanuel.
An inquisitive voice at the other end demanded to know who the caller was. You told him. He apologised and said he lost the cellular phone where he stored your name and number, in the melee that ensued on the day of the invasion. You put to him the first question you asked the two Afaraukwu men you just finished speaking with: the whereabouts of his brother, Nnamdi.
On the phone, you could hear him clearing his throat before answering: “Ever since that day the military invaded our house and killed about 22 people and our dog, Jack, and took many people away, including the living and the dead, we’ve not set eyes on our brother, Nnamdi; we’ve been searching for him but we’ve not seen him.”
“He was within the house before the invasion took place,” he added. “So the soldiers produce Nnamdi Kanu whether dead or alive. If he is alive, hand him over to the police. If he is dead, give us his corpse, that’s what we are asking for. All the intelligence units of IPOB have been searching for Nnamdi Kanu even up to Ojukwu Bunker but they have not seen nor heard anything from him and we want them (soldiers) to produce his corpse if they have killed him.”
Playing the devil’s advocate you argued that his allegation does not hold water since the army has come out to deny that his brother is with them. “The Nigerian Army denial is untrue,” he said. “They have been known as people who lie so much. They invaded our house without any court order; this is something they’ve been known for over the years. The same thing happened to Fela, the leader of the Shiite and so many other people as well; they invade, they kill and they lie. So, they’ve been known as people who lie so much. We have photo evidences, we have video evidences which of course we are going to make use of in due time.”
As he talked you could in his voice traces of bitterness mixed with defiance. “The soldiers came to kill my brother, just like they killed Abiola and Ken Saro Wiwa and nobody said anything,” he alleged. “The same way, they’ve killed Nnamdi Kanu as well if they don’t produce him; that will be our own assumption. All they came to do was to kill him; they’ve succeeded, so, they should release the corpse to us that’s what we are asking for.”
Ojukwu Bunker comes under search
But rumour claimed he is hiding in Ojukwu Bunker, you said. Is he aware of the rumour and what has he to say? “People have been insinuating that my brother and many other have been inside the bunker which is very close to our house,” he said. “But he is not there. I wish my brother is anywhere I can set my eyes on him. The answer is no, there is no way he will be there without communicating with us, It’s impossible, so, my brother is not there, you can go and find out yourself.”
Taking up the challenge, you truly did. Ojukwu Bunker located within the precinct of Kanu’s compound in Afaraukwu was the headquarters of Biafra when Enugu fell. A private property of the former Premier of Eastern Region, the late Dr. Michael Okpara, he donated the facility to the Biafran nation in the course of the struggle. Within three months in which the bunker was built, Ojukwu and his lieutenants started staying there to hold meetings away from the detect the enemy.
On getting to the main entrance, you saw what looked like a disused armoured personnel carrier (APC), directly facing the edifice. On top of it sat some mobile policemen on guard. Armed with a torchlight provided by a guide, you went about looking for Nnamdi Kanu. You moved from the entry point to Ojukwu’s conference room, bedroom, closet and secretary’s office.
Next, the search took you to the Prisoners of War Department (PWD), but there was no trace of Nnamdi Kanu. Perplexed, you asked the guide who refused to give his name whether the IPOB leader has ever visited the facility. “Nnamdi Kanu has never been here before. There was a time his members came here but we didn’t know their mission.”