The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has declared its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, “vindicated” following recent statements it claims confirm long-standing allegations that former President Muhammadu Buhari died in 2017 and was replaced by an impostor.
In a statement signed by IPOB’s spokesperson, Comrade Emma Powerful and obtained by our correspondents on Monday, the separatist group referenced alleged admissions by former presidential spokesman Garba Shehu regarding Buhari’s death. IPOB insists that this revelation validates Kanu’s controversial prophecy dating back eight years.
It explained that in 2017, Kanu publicly claimed that President Buhari had died in a London hospital and was replaced by a body double—an allegation dismissed at the time by the Nigerian government as “ridiculous.”
According to IPOB, Kanu’s assertions led to his persecution, including Operation Python Dance, a military exercise which IPOB alleges targeted him for elimination.
Included in its statement, IPOB demanded answers about governance decisions allegedly taken in Buhari’s name after 2017.
“Who signed billions in his name? Who travelled abroad to negotiate arms deals and treaties? Who contested in 2019? Who was re-inaugurated in 2019 and moved around with a different ear structure and signature?” the group queried.
IPOB described the situation as “a national hoax of historic proportions,” accusing Nigerian authorities of criminal deception and electoral fraud. The group also criticised what it views as a lack of accountability.
The group said Nigerians were not merely misled but “criminally defrauded” and called for an investigation into all actions taken in the name of the late president. IPOB further demanded apologies to Kanu, whom it described as “the Oracle of the Most High God.”
The statement said, “Recall that in 2017, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu—long before he was kidnapped, tortured, and illegally renditioned—declared without equivocation that Muhammadu Buhari died in 2017 in a London hospital and that what was being paraded thereafter was an impostor.
“That was the reason why the then APC government, led by the late Abba Kyari and Abubakar Malami, launched Operation Python Dance to kill Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He called the secrecy surrounding the demise of Buhari in 2017 a monumental fraud—a national masquerade—and was laughed at, vilified, mocked by rented saboteurs, and even called mad by supposed intellectuals who could barely pass a simple facial recognition test.
“Now, precisely two years after the expiration of the second term of ‘Buhari,’ as Mazi Nnamdi Kanu predicted, the truth has stumbled in wearing boots: Nigerians are only now being told that ‘Buhari is dead.’ How convenient.
“Let us be clear: the world owes Mazi Nnamdi Kanu an apology, not just for doubting him, but for persecuting him for telling a truth their cowardice could not stomach—a truth so potent it terrified Aso Rock more than any armed rebellion ever could.
“We ask: who signed billions in his name? Who travelled abroad to negotiate arms deals and treaties? Who contested in 2019? Who was re-inaugurated in 2019 and moved around with a different ear structure and signature? Is Nigeria now ready to prosecute itself for the crime of mass deception?
“Nigerians were not only lied to—they were criminally defrauded by their own government. Elections were conducted in the name of a man who, by their own admissions, was no longer alive. This is no longer a constitutional crisis. It is a national hoax of historic proportions. In saner climes, heads would roll. In Nigeria, it is business as usual. Garba Shehu has confessed. Where is the DSS?
“To those who mocked Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, today is a good day to bow your heads in shame and seek forgiveness—not from us, but from the truth you tried so hard to bury. The Oracle of the Most High God, whom you called a madman, has been vindicated by the very system that conspired to silence him.”
“If you see Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, stand up. Because you are in the presence of a man whose courage to speak the truth has now become divine revelation. Nigeria, the mask has finally slipped. What will you do now?” the statement added.