By DAYO ADESULU | November 10, 2025
Fresh details have emerged about a confidential meeting held eight years ago between detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and a delegation of Igbo intellectuals at Kuje Prison — weeks before his release in April 2017.
The visit, led by Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo (now Anambra State governor) and Prof. Pat Utomi, took place on February 28, 2017 under the auspices of Nzuko Umunna, a Pan-Igbo socio-political group. According to Ikechukwu Emeka Onyia II, a member of the 15-man delegation, the meeting aimed to appeal to Kanu for moderation in his rhetoric and to dissuade him from pursuing any form of violent agitation.
Inside the Kuje Prison Meeting
Onyia, who recently shared details of the encounter, said the group spent nearly two hours with Kanu inside the maximum-security facility.
“We condemned his habit of using abusive language against other ethnic groups while pushing his agitation. We told him that such behavior only deepened division and hatred. He agreed to adjust,” Onyia stated.
He added that the delegation also advised Kanu to consider participating in Nigeria’s democratic process through the formation of a political party or by joining an existing one to push his ideas legitimately.
However, Kanu reportedly rejected that suggestion.
“He disagreed with us on joining politics. He said IPOB’s mission was beyond electoral participation,” Onyia explained.
Kanu’s Pledge of Non-Violence
The delegation pressed Kanu for assurances that his movement, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), would not resort to violence.
> “We made it clear that violent agitation would destroy the Southeast and put our people in danger. Kanu assured us that IPOB would remain strictly non-violent and that they would never take up arms, no matter the provocation,” Onyia said.
He revealed that Kanu pledged to sustain peaceful advocacy, emphasizing that IPOB’s “strength lies in non-violence.”
The team further cautioned against the acquisition of weapons or the creation of armed wings — a warning that, Onyia lamented, was later ignored following Kanu’s 2017 release when the Eastern Security Network (ESN) emerged.
After the Prison Visit
Following their meeting, the Nzuko Umunna team addressed a world press conference at Chelsea Hotel, Abuja, calling for Kanu’s unconditional release. Onyia said this marked the first major public appeal by eminent Igbo figures demanding freedom for the IPOB leader.
> “That press briefing was a turning point. It drew national and international attention to Kanu’s case and eventually paved the way for his release two months later, on April 28, 2017,” Onyia recalled.
Among the 15-member delegation were:
Prof. Charles Soludo, Prof. Pat Utomi, Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, Dr. Law Mefor, Rev. Fr. Jude C., Dr. Udenta Udenta, Prof. Ebere Onwudiwe, Emeka Ugwu-Oju, Ferdinand Agu, Tony Nnadi, Dr. Sam Amadi, Ikechukwu Onyia, Innocent Chukwuma, Collins Ugwu, and Andy Wabali.
“Affliction Shall Not Arise Again in Igbo Land”
Onyia, who wore a red cap and isiagu during the visit, concluded that the 2017 peace mission was meant to guide Kanu away from confrontation and ensure Igbo interests were pursued within lawful bounds.
> “We gave him our counsel as brothers. We warned that violence would bring only pain to our people. I remain disappointed that after his release, the movement drifted into militancy. That was never our agreement,” he said.
He hinted that the content of the Chelsea Hotel press statement will be published soon “for the sake of historical record and clarity.”
Onyia ended his reflection with a call for unity and peace across the Southeast:
“Affliction shall not arise again in Igbo Land. Never again should our land be turned into a theatre of war.”
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