A human rights organisation, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), on Sunday, warned the Nigerian government that Nnamdi Kanu must not die in custody.

Kanu, who is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been in solitary confinement at the detention facility of the Department of State Services (DSS) since June 2021.

Addressing a press conference in Enugu on Sunday, the group warned that if Kanu dies in custody, there will be trouble.

Flanked by the principal officers and members of the Governing Board of Intersociety, the Board Chair, Chief Emeka Umeagbalasi, advised the federal government that instead of holding Kanu in perpetuity, it should start reconciling with aggrieve citizens of the country to douse tension in the country.

The group also called for the release of all other pro-Biafra agitators held in various detention facilities without trial.

It said, “Nnamdi Kanu must not die in detention. The DSS has the capacity to give medical treatment either in Nigeria or outside Nigeria. The consequences of dying in detention will be far-reaching.

“The federal government should also release all other pro-Biafra agitators held in various detention centres across the country. As a government that will soon wind up, it should start making amends and use a political solution in addressing the issue of pro-Biafra agitation.”

Speaking on 2023 general elections and insecurity, Intersociety called for the removal of 1,500 military checkpoints and 4,000 police checkpoints in the South-East and South-South regions in the country.

Lamenting the economic, social and security implementations, Intersociety said “those checkpoints have been converted to extortion points.”

It alleged that state actors and non-state actors in the South-East jointly killed 1,700 civilians and abducted 1,800 in 2022.

The group, however, accused the military personnel of collusion with criminal elements to perpetrate crime in the region, using military checkpoints and camouflage to kidnap people along the highways.

On the 2023 general elections, Intersociety called on the international community and other civil society organisations to keep a close eye on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that it has identified more than 50 rigging strategies that the electoral body can use to undermine the elections.

“On account of these, Intersociety has filed a class suit against INEC over seven million disenfranchised new registrants/600 other litigation,” it said.

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