Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has drawn parallels between the ongoing detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the events surrounding the June 12, 1993 political crisis, warning that Nigeria risks repeating one of its darkest chapters in history.
In a statement posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday, Sowore recalled his involvement in the struggle for the validation of the June 12 election, lamenting how the Nigerian system once “weaponized the judiciary to buy time, deceive the public, and justify injustice.”
He said, “They kept saying, ‘Abiola’s case is in court,’ using that as a shield for tyranny, until they eventually killed him a day before his supposed release. It was a well-orchestrated tragedy disguised as legal processes.”
According to Sowore, the same tactics are now being employed in the case of the detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
“Today, I see the same script being replayed with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu — the same manipulation, the same excuses, fake narrators, fake protesters, the same abuse of process. The language has not changed; only the victims have,” he wrote.
Sowore, who attended Kanu’s court appearance on October 16, expressed concern about the IPOB leader’s deteriorating health, warning that his condition demands urgent attention.
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“The Nnamdi Kanu I saw in court is very ill. We must rescue him before another citizen is sacrificed to the bloodthirsty Nigerian elite club,” Sowore cautioned.
He urged Nigerians, civil society groups, and the international community to rise in defense of justice and human rights, stressing that silence in the face of oppression only emboldens tyranny.
Kanu has been in Department of State Services (DSS) custody since June 2021, facing terrorism-related charges. Despite several court rulings ordering his release, the federal government has continued to detain him, sparking ongoing criticism from rights groups and international observers.