‘I am very happy with Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest because he called Nigeria a zoo’ – El-Rufai says

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has expressed his delight with the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu,  leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). 

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Tuesday, announced at a press briefing at the Ministry of Justice in Abuja that Kanu had been arrested since Sunday.  

Speaking on the arrest when he featured on BBC Pidgin on Friday, El-Rufai stated that he was happy with the arrest because Kanu had jumped bail and was referring to the country as a zoo. 

The governor said, “I was very happy (when Nnamdi Kanu was arrested) because, first he jumped bail, jeopardising his sureties. 

“Secondly, a person that challenges the sovereignty and the authority of a state and incites violence; he refers to his own country as a zoo. 

“This should be a message to all these separatists challenging the authority of the Nigerian State to be very careful.” 

When quizzed on complaints over the Federal Government’s 

reaction to IPOB compared to Boko Haram and arms-wielding bandits, the Governor said the parties are different as the bandits and Boko Haram are not calling for the disintegration of the country. 

He further said  unlike IPOB which is led by Nnamdi Kanu, bandits have no centralised leadership. 

“No! No! No! No! People are comparing apples to oranges,” El-Rufai said. 

“Nnamdi Kanu is the leader of IPOB, a proscribed organisation. He is identifiable, in constant communication and everyone knows where he is. 

“Let’s take Boko Haram for instance. Shekau was in hiding and for the past 10 years and the military had been waging a war to get him. 

“It is not like Shekau was in Saudi Arabia, sitting in one place, tweeting about the break up of Nigeria or asking Boko Haram to go and kill Helen and Nasir el-Rufai. 

“Nnamdi Kanu is in one place while Shekau is waging guerrilla warfare. The insurgency is still going on and the Federal Government is not giving up. 

“Regarding bandits, they are not centralised under one leadership. Who is the head of the bandits? Who is the equivalent of Nmandi Kanu with banditry? 

“Bandits are just collections of independent criminals. It is a business for them. It is not a case of Nigeria must break up. 

“I want to challenge anyone to tell me the central leader of bandits in the same position as Kanu.”