They will kill us but by the end Biafra will come - pro -Biafra leader , Kanu

A pro-Biafra leader whose arrest sparked a wave of
protests across Nigeria's southeast has told AFP
from jail he is a "prisoner of conscience" and vowed
to realise his dream of an independent state.
The head of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)
group, Nnamdi Kanu, is accused by the state of
"propagating a secessionist agenda" with the
intention to "levy war against Nigeria".
Kanu, who also runs the London-based Radio Biafra,
is facing charges of treasonable felony, managing an
unlawful society and illegally shipping radio
equipment into the country.
He has been in custody since his arrest in October,
despite being granted bail, and denied all charges.
His arrest and continued detention has made him a
figurehead for his supporters, whose repeated
marches in the southeast have increasingly led to
clashes with the police.
"Biafra has come to stay," Kanu told AFP in a text
message via his brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu,
who met him on Thursday in Kuje prison on the
outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja.
"They will kill us but by the end Biafra will come,"
the 48-year-old added. "I am a prisoner of
conscience and killing unarmed Biafran protesters is
a crime against humanity."
- 'Third-class citizens' -
A previous unilateral declaration of an independent
Republic of Biafra in 1967 led to a brutal civil war
that left more than one million dead in nearly three
years of fighting.
Forced to surrender and chastened by war, dreams
of a separate state for the ethnic Igbo group -- the
third largest in the country -- waned.
But Kanu's arrest and detention has galvanised
support for the Biafra movement among young
people who never knew the horrors of war and have
little to lose in fighting for a better life.
Today the former regional power is impoverished,
with dilapidated infrastructure and high
unemployment fuelling resentment against the
federal government.
"We have been failed in so many ways," Kanu said,
describing Igbos as "third class citizens", echoing
many in the region who say they are still being
punished for the civil war.
Kanu, who has described Nigeria as a "zoo" which
"has to come to an end", was a relative unknown
before his arrest.