Ololade Adeyanju/
Israel Okwu Kanu, father of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, is dead.
The death was announced by the spokesman of the group, Emma Powerful, in a statement today.
The elder Kanu was until his death the traditional ruler of Afaraukwu Community in Umuahia Abia State.
The statement blames the death on ”the trauma he suffered during the invasion of his palace by Nigerian soldiers on September 14, 2017”.
The statement also attributes the traditional ruler’s death ”to the shock he suffered as a result of the wife’s death”.
Since the army invasion, the IPOB leader’s parents’ whereabouts remained unknown until Kanu announced the death of his mother, Sally, in a German hospital in August.
The statement says, “we are left in no doubt the military attack on Isiama Afaraukwu and the Kanu family by the armed forces of the Federal Government of Nigeria is the principal cause of death of our leader’s parents.
“We confidently state, without fear of contradiction, that our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has also sacrificed his parents in pursuit of freedom for the people of Biafra. There is no greater act of devotion to a noble cause than this.”
The group further said, ”the passing of our leader’s parents will infuse us with a greater sense of determination because only by accomplishing the liberation of Biafra will we truly mourn them.”
0