No basis to compare Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho — Presidency
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Communications and Orientation, Sunday Dare, has said there is no basis for comparing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, with Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho.
In a statement on Tuesday, Dare dismissed suggestions in some quarters that both figures should be viewed through the same lens, insisting that their actions, methods and consequences differ significantly.
He said Kanu’s IPOB movement was associated with activities that amounted to insurrection and direct confrontation with the Nigerian state.
According to him, this included the enforcement of sit-at-home orders in parts of the South-East, which he claimed led to hundreds of deaths, as well as attacks on security operatives and public infrastructure.
Kanu, who was recently convicted on terrorism charges by a Federal High Court in Abuja, was accused of engaging in insurrection and armed confrontation with the Nigerian state, actions the government said led to widespread violence, loss of lives, and economic disruption in parts of the South-East.
In contrast, the presidential aide said Igboho’s activism focused largely on addressing security concerns in the South-West, particularly allegations of killings, kidnappings and destruction of farmlands by suspected criminal elements.
He described Igboho’s agitation for a Yoruba nation as largely centred on self-determination without the establishment of an armed group targeting the Nigerian military or security agencies.
“The contexts, methods and consequences are fundamentally different,” Dare said, urging the public to avoid equating the two figures in national discourse.
