REWIND: How Nnamdi Kanu hired American firm to help promote IPOB in $750k deal

On Tuesday, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, announced the arrest and extradition of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The IPOB leader was subsequently re-arraigned before a federal high court in Abuja for charges bordering on alleged treason.

Binta Nyako, the presiding judge, ordered that the Department of State Services (DSS) remand Kanu till July 26 for the continuation of trial.

In April 2017, the IPOB leader was granted bail by the court on charges bordering on treasonable felony but later skipped the bail.

He later left Nigeria after soldiers raided his father’s residence in Abia state in November 2017.

During his sojourn abroad, Kanu had reportedly signed some deals and formed alliances in a bid to achieve the Biafra goal.

“Their problem is Nnamdi Kanu and the solution to their problem is referendum. They gave me conditional bail to cage me and IPOB but I refused,” he had said during a broadcast.

THE $750,000 IPOB DEAL WITH AMERICAN FIRM

According to a report from Foreign Lobby, Kanu signed a contract with BW Global Group, an American lobbying firm, to help promote IPOB in a bid to achieve the secession objective of Biafra.

The report noted that the firm is co-owned by Jeffrey Birrel and Alan White.

The one-year deal is said to have taken effect from March 1, 2021, and cost Kanu and IPOB $750,000 — an equivalent of over N300 million at the current Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) exchange rate of N410 to one US dollar.

“BWGG shall provide IPOB with services relating to the promotion of human rights and democracy, and shall otherwise act as an advocate for the indigenous people of Biafra,” a document relating to the contract reads.

“BWGG shall provide services to the IPOB for a period of (1) one year, commencing on the March 1, 2021, through February 28, 2022 and becomes effective on the date of this agreement on, which is the date of the Client’s signature of this consulting services agreement.

“BWGG shall be paid a fee for its professional services $750,000 for one year covering the period of March 1, 2021 through February 28, 2022.”

The new agreement was said to be a replacement of a previous deal signed with Mercury Public Affairs, another US-based lobbying firm.

In September 2019, Kanu had reportedly signed an $85,000-a-month deal ($1 million/year) with Mercury Public Affairs.

But the firm was said to have only disclosed $254,000 in payments with the US Department of Justice for all of 2020.

IPOB’s ALLIANCE WITH CAMEROONIAN SEPARATIST GROUP

Kanu had also reportedly formed an alliance with the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovV), the separatist movement in Southern Cameroon, to exchange weapons and personnel.

The separatist group also established a security outfit named Eastern Security Council (ESN) to “halt every criminal activity and the terrorist attack on Biafraland”.

The emergence of ESN, however, coincided with a spike in attacks against security and government infrastructure in the south-east.

TheCable found out that killings in the south-east tripled after the security outfit was launched — but the group denies any wrongdoing.