Eze Israel Okwu Kanu, the traditional ruler of Isiama Afara, a community in Umuahia, Abia State, is the Dad of leader of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

Nnamdi Kanu is facing trial for leading a secessionist, Zionist movement, violence, treasonable felony, illicit importation of firearms, among other charges.

The Radio Biafra Director was picked up last October as soon as he set foot on Nigerian soil. Authorities say he got into Nigeria bearing multiple passports.

In an interview with the Punch, his Dad says his son is only being victimized for standing on the side of truth and justice.

“I am in support of what he is doing. I am not afraid to say it. If anybody will come out to champion fairness and justice and fight for the common good, I will definitely support the person. He is not fighting for his selfish interests and he is being straight forward; he has kept his hands clean. I am happy to know that he is not using the struggle to enrich himself. He has not hurt anybody and I am asking God to help him.

“I have left everything in God’s hands, because nobody should be killed for saying the truth. He saw the truth and said it, is that why he should be killed? He has my backing, as long as he is saying the truth. If they took him to court and the court ordered that he should be released on bail and they refused to release him, is that really democracy? Why did they refuse to release him on bail? What do they want? The President should respect the laws of the land, because he is the one that should defend the laws. My son is just saying the truth — he has the right of freedom of speech; they should release him. Nobody should be killed for saying the truth”, the older Kanu said.

Eze Kanu also told the story of his son growing up.

“While growing up, he was a very bright boy, very intelligent and brilliant and he was very serious with his studies. He was quite serious-minded for his age, which obviously informed his decision to leave the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he was studying as an undergraduate, for Europe, in order to finish his studies, following delays occasioned by incessant strikes by the university’s academic and non-academic staff.

“Before he left for Europe, he complained to me about the constant strikes. He was worried that, sometimes, the school would be shut for more than three months due to one strike or the other, and he wondered when he would have time to learn, not to talk of graduating. At that point, he told me that he wanted to travel abroad to continue his studies. I was worried; I asked him, ‘Who will you stay with? Do you know anybody there?’ He said I should not worry, that there was somebody from our town there in Europe, who would help him. Incidentally, the said person knew me and was willing to help Nnamdi because of the relationship we had. He (the man who helped Nnamdi in Europe) said as long as the boy was my son, he would be glad to be of help. He said he would help Nnamdi unconditionally, because, according to him, there was something I did for him in the past which he would never forget.

“When he got to Europe, the authorities there were impressed with him and took him up; they gave him admission, noting that he was very brilliant. It was determination that propelled him to move to Europe to complete his studies”.

Were there signs that Nnamdi Kanu will become a rabid, Zionist leader in future? Eze Kanu doesn’t think so.

“No, he was not a troublemaker. In fact he went out of his way to avoid trouble. If anything would cause a quarrel between him and anybody, he would rather avoid such a matter. He was actually peace loving and gentle. Also, he was not a person of many words, he was reserved. But what I noticed about him, as he was growing up, was that he detested injustice. He did not like to see a fellow human being victimised. He would never be part of anything that involved the persecution, or victimisation of a fellow human being. He was very straight forward and honest to a fault. Nnamdi would never see the truth and keep quiet, he would speak out, not minding the consequences.

“I used to observe him with his peers, whenever they were arguing or debating one thing or the other, he would usually enlighten them, telling the others what was the real fact. He was very knowledgeable and sometimes his mates would wonder how he knew more than them. They would ask him, ‘How come you know all these? Where did you get the information?’ With time, I discovered he was talented, especially in current affairs and history. He was really versatile and had vast knowledge on most subjects. Beyond that, he was a well-behaved boy who always did what was expected of him”.

Nnamdi Kanu’s Dad also spoke of the moment his son became radicalized.

“He reads a lot of history, he knows so much about history and I think that is a major factor. Apart from that, he witnessed how Ralph Uwazuruike (former leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Biafra) was running MASSOB then. He went there (MASSOB) and found out that what Uwazuruike was doing was not right. He called Uwazuruike aside and asked him: ‘The money you are collecting (in the name of Biafra), can’t you give some of it to these poor ones among your members so that they can at least feed themselves and their families?’ Uwazuruike got angry and asked who gave him (Nnamdi) the right to make such comments. That led to problems between him and Uwazuruike.

“When Nnamdi came home to get married, Uwazuruike stormed the venue of the traditional wedding with his people to disrupt the wedding. Uwazuruike and his group came in 10 buses to cause disturbances at the venue. I was at home waiting for them to bring the new bride to me, as Igbo tradition demands, when I got information that Uwazuruike brought his men to cause trouble there. It got to a point that the youths from my son’s wife’s community rallied together to confront Uwazuruike’s boys, captured about 20 of them and took them to the police. But Nnamdi was beaten up seriously and he sustained injuries. When he returned home, I took him to the hospital for treatment. After he recovered, he swore to go ahead with the struggle for Biafra, but without Uwazuruike. He said the struggle could be successfully undertaken in a different way, without it being used as a means for self-enrichment, as was done by Uwazuruike. That was how he got involved in the struggle for Biafra.

“Those days, people were hearing a lot about Uwazuruike and his activities with MASSOB, and Nnamdi went there once. I am speaking from what I heard. When Nnamdi went there (MASSOB) and found out what Uwazuruike was actually doing, Nnamdi challenged him and they began to have problems. They nearly killed Nnamdi at that time. Initially, Nnamdi opened a radio house in Enugu, but Uwazuruike and his group went there to destroy it. There were so many other cases. That was how it happened.

“The problem was that Uwazuruike was allegedly using the money he was getting in the name of the pro-Biafra struggle to enrich himself and develop his estate, but not helping his members and followers, most of whom were very poor. Nnamdi did not like that and spoke out but Uwazuruike felt he was challenging him and decided to fight him. But he (Uwazuruike) did not know that the more he fought Nnamdi and tried to destroy him, the more God lifted him (Nnamdi) up”.

Eze Kanu also said he follows the trial of his son via the newspapers and believes the Igbos deserve their own country like his son has been advocating.

Read the full interview in Punch