Radio Biafra keeps broadcasting as Nnamdi Kanu seeks to meet his bail conditions

SECESSIONIST and pirate media outlet Radio Biafra has remained defiant and continued broadcasting despite the arrest of its director Nnamdi Kanu who was apprehended by security men while visiting the country from the UK.

 

Mr Kanu, who runs his pirate radio station from the UK, was picked up by men of the Department of State Services (DSS) as he arrived in Lagos over the weekend. Radio Biafra, which has been declared illegal, agitates for a sovereign state for Nigeria's 15m Igbos and broadcasts secessionist propaganda.

 

Ardent listeners to the radio say that the Internet-based medium continued with its broadcast issuing an ultimatum to the federal government to release Mr Kanu within 48 hours or face a revolt. It is believed that Mr Kanu has been granted bail and is currently seeking to satisfy the conditions, including getting the necessary sureties.

 

According to Mr Kanu's lawyer Egechukwu Obetta, his client has been granted bail in the sum of N2m (£6,500) with surety of the same amount who must be a civil servant of grade level 16 or above. Despite attempts to block the station by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), die-hard listeners are able to log on to it using the Internet.

 

NBC spokesman Awwalu Salihu, said: “I can confirm to you that they are still broadcasting through the Internet. This is because the protocol for bringing down Internet broadcasting is a long one but the process for bringing it down has started.”

 

Describing the station as a pirate one, Mr Salihu added that its ongoing broadcasts were being treated as a breach of national security. He, however, did not reveal when the operatives of the station arrested by the DSS would be charged to court.

 

Mr Kanu, who is also acclaimed to be the director of Biafra Television and the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra movement, has a large following among Igbo youths. Several youth groups have threatened war unless he is released.