00:00Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the banned indigenous people of Biafra, has spent years in detention.
00:07His case is now one of Nigeria's most divisive.
00:10Keeping Nnamdi Kanu in detention for more than four years, I think he's a disgrace to this nation.
00:18He has committed no crime. Nnamdi Kanu is fighting at just cause.
00:22See how Nigerians are reacting now, especially from the 70s. See how they are reacting. He's not good.
00:28On a personal level, I don't think that Nnamdi Kanu should be let free to be roaming around.
00:34The government calls IPOB a terrorist organization that threatens national unity.
00:40Kanu's supporters say he's being punished for reviving the dream of an independent Biafra.
00:45The IPOB campaign of an independent state of Biafra follows the short-lived Republic of Biafra,
00:51which fought and lost a civil war from 1967 to 1970 to break away from Nigeria.
00:58An estimated one million people died in the war, many from the southeast.
01:04Is Nnamdi Kanu Nigeria's most dangerous separatist, or is he the country's most silenced voice?
01:10Welcome to the flip side.
01:13Nnamdi Kanu was arrested in Kenya in 2021 following an arrest warrant for his return to Nigeria to face trial.
01:20The Nigerian government maintains he was lawfully taken into custody and extradited.
01:25But his lawyers and supporters disputed that version, calling it an abduction and arguing that due process was ignored.
01:33The legal debate over how he arrived in Nigeria now forms a central part of the trial,
01:39one that's seen countless delays and polarized Africa's most populous nation.
01:44He shows that our judiciary is dead.
01:47And as a giant of Africa, it's very wrong for us to be operating a very insortive and rubbish system.
01:53Even Goku Harams, they gave them amnesties.
01:55So why are they living in Nnamdi?
01:57As a Nigerian who respects the constitution of Nigeria and respects the three arms of government,
02:03the legislature, judiciary, and of course, you know, the executive.
02:07Since a judge said, free this man, let's free this man and we can re-arrest him again.
02:13He has many charges on him, but for any charge that he's cleared for, he can be released.
02:18I don't know why they should be keeping him.
02:20That's why the people in the Southeast are making noise.
02:23So keeping him more there will increase their security in the Southeast.
02:28Nigeria's Southeast still bears the scars of the civil war that ended more than half a century ago.
02:34For many, Kanu's detention feels like history repeating itself.
02:39Some argue that Kanu's case has long moved beyond the courtroom and should be resolved politically.
02:45Mazin Amdi Kanu has been detained in Nigeria.
02:47Clearly, for political reasons, one would have expected that if there were court charges against him,
02:55since the time he was initially charged, before his residence was invaded,
03:01that led to his going back to exile and ultimately coming back by way of an extraordinary rendition,
03:12one would have thought that five years later, it should have been tried, you know,
03:17possibly convicted or unsentenced, but that has not happened yet.
03:21We think that everything surrounding his ordeal at this moment is political.
03:27And that's why many have, many believe that the solution should also be political.
03:33A political solution.
03:35That's one way many in Nigeria believe could address the situation.
03:40Some voices now call for a political solution, arguing that holding Kanu has done little to ease tensions
03:46or improve security in the Southeastern region.
03:49You know, as a person who observed the situation, especially considering the situation of this country,
03:55I think it is high time for all the statesmen to come up and appeal to the president and to the government
04:02to release Namdi Kanu and opt for a political solution.
04:07I support political solution and I think Namdi Kanu should be released now
04:11so that we can have a more peaceful nation, considering the fact that the government is releasing so many criminals.
04:19So I think it is high time for us to also release Namdi Kanu.
04:22As Namdi Kanu's trial is set to resume, Nigerians are watching closely,
04:27not just for what happens in court, but for what it reveals about the country itself.
04:32Whether Namdi Kanu is seen as a terrorist or a political prisoner,
04:36his prolonged trial and detention have become a test of Nigeria's justice system
04:40and of its promise of unity in diversity.
04:44And that's the flip side.
04:45We'll see you next time.
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