I Won’t Negotiate Biafra’s Freedom – Nnamdi Kanu Issues Fresh Demands

The convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has ruled out political negotiations that do not include a referendum on Biafran independence.

Kanu made the declaration in an address to the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) during its annual convention held in Duluth, Georgia, United States, from October 9 to 11, 2026.

In the address dated September 30, 2026, Kanu said he would not participate in discussions centred on political appointments, restructuring or conferences that failed to address the question of Biafran sovereignty.

He insisted that the people of the proposed Biafran state must be allowed to decide their political future through a referendum.

“Referendum, or the unilateral pursuit of Biafran sovereignty. There is no middle ground,” he declared.

The IPOB leader maintained that he would not bargain away what he described as the existence of his people, adding that a referendum remained the only acceptable subject of negotiation.

“I will not negotiate the existence of my people. I will not bargain our homeland into a committee. I will discuss referendum and nothing else,” he said.

He dismissed the prospect of participating in political discussions that did not address the demand for independence.

“Those who want a conversation about appointments, about ‘restructuring,’ about another conference that ends in a communiqué and a banquet, may hold that conversation without me,” Kanu stated.

He added that his demand was for a free vote through which Biafrans could determine whether they wanted an independent state.

“My subject is one subject: the right of Biafrans to say, in a free vote, whether they will live as a people under their own roof,” he said.

Kanu also reflected on his years in detention, describing his continued pursuit of Biafran independence as a commitment to establishing what he called a peaceful homeland.

“I have spent eight years of my life in detention in pursuit of the only goal that matters to me, and indeed to all of us: a peaceful homeland called Biafra,” he said.

He stressed that his vision was not driven by revenge or a desire for disorder but by the establishment of a country governed by its own laws.

“Not a slogan. A country. Not revenge. Safety. Not chaos. Order under our own law,” he stated.

The separatist leader recounted his encounters with Nigerian authorities, saying he was first arrested in 2005 at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos and arrested again in Lagos in 2015.

He subsequently accused the Nigerian government of kidnapping him in Kenya and presenting the operation as an arrest.

“Then they kidnapped me in Kenya and called the crime an arrest,” he said.

Kanu has repeatedly challenged the circumstances surrounding his rendition from Kenya to Nigeria, an issue that has featured in his legal proceedings.

He also criticised the judicial process that led to his conviction, alleging that it relied on repealed laws and reversed an earlier acquittal.

Describing the outcome as “power pretending to be a court”, Kanu insisted that his imprisonment had not diminished his determination to pursue Biafran independence.

“The file is open. I am fixated on one goal: total freedom for Biafra,” he said.

“No negotiations that trade the destination for a seat at someone else’s table. Referendum. That is the conversation. That is the settlement. That is the peace.”

Kanu also urged AVID and other diaspora organisations to intensify their campaign for his release and that of other people he described as Biafrans unjustly detained.

He commended AVID for its support during his detention and praised its president, Dr Sylvester Onyia, for attending court proceedings and pursuing efforts to secure his release.

According to Kanu, the organisation had also written to British officials, including the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the United Kingdom High Commission in Nigeria, concerning his case.

He called on the veterans to sustain their advocacy, describing their support as important to his campaign.

Addressing the convention under the theme Maka Odi Nma Ndi Igbo, meaning “For the Good and Benefit of the Igbo People”, Kanu invoked the history of Igbo Landing in Georgia, where enslaved Igbo people resisted their enslavement in 1803.

He urged the attendees to draw lessons from the historical resistance and apply the principle of self-determination to the Igbo homeland.

“Veterans: you swore an oath to a republic that claims self-determination as a founding creed. Do not be timid about applying that creed to the land that made you,” he said.

Kanu concluded by reiterating that he would not accept any political settlement that excluded the question of Biafran independence.

“I am not available for any bargain that leaves Biafra unnamed,” he declared.

“I am available for a referendum. I am available for the work of a free people.”

Kanu is serving a life sentence in a Nigerian Correctional Service facility in Sokoto. He was convicted in November 2025 on terrorism-related charges linked to his separatist campaign for an independent Biafran state.

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