The family of the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has warned Nigerians about fraudulent social media accounts impersonating him, urging the public to exercise caution and avoid engagement.
Prince Emmanuel Kanu, speaking on behalf of the Okwu-Kanu family, said several accounts have been created on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
These accounts post misleading messages, claim false locations like Nairobi or Sokoto, and use official-looking logos to appear legitimate.
“It has come to our attention that fraudulent social media accounts, particularly on Facebook and Instagram, are impersonating Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
“These fake pages—often using official-looking logos, claiming locations such as Nairobi or Sokoto, and posting misleading updates—are not associated with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB, or the Kanu family in any way,” he added, describing the operations as deceptive.
Kanu has been imprisoned in Sokoto State since June 2021. The family clarified, “Since his rendition and detention in June 2021, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has had no active or verified online presence on any social media platform. He does not operate Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, or any other profiles posting personal messages, location updates, or soliciting engagement.”
The family said the impersonators are “part of a sustained deceptive operation, believed to be orchestrated by Nigerian security agencies and their collaborators,” aimed at gathering personal information and monitoring genuine supporters.
According to the statement, the objectives include “harvesting personal information, contacts, and data from unsuspecting followers; spreading disinformation to damage the reputation of Kanu and IPOB; and provoking or monitoring genuine supporters for potential harassment, surveillance, and arrest.”
The Okwu-Kanu family urged the public “not to follow, like, comment on, share, or engage with any such fake pages; to immediately unlike and unfollow any suspicious account claiming to represent Mazi Nnamdi Kanu; to report these fraudulent pages to the platforms as impersonation or scam accounts; and to rely solely on verified IPOB channels, primarily through official handles and trusted media affiliates such as Radio Biafra.”
They further warned that anyone interacting with the accounts does so at their own risk, noting that “exposure of personal details could lead to severe consequences in the current climate of repression against the Biafran struggle.”
The family concluded by affirming Kanu’s commitment to non-violent advocacy, stating, “We will continue to expose these dirty tactics and call for the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
