By Tunde Ayodeji
Attempt at establishing proof of life for the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has failed to dispel reports that he has died as the Facebook livestream put up for this purpose further created confusion as to whether he is dead or alive as the person who appeared on the video footage was more different than similar to Kanu.
The live broadcast monitored in Enugu was addressed by a man claiming to be Nnmadi Kanu but without the trademark salt and pepper chin stubble that the IPOB leader is known for. The speaker’s voice also did not consistently match the wavelength from his previous audio recordings when ran through a voice analyzer, the voice was less than 68% match even though the person claiming to be Kanu visibly tried to copy his speaking style.
The speaker went to a great length to massage his face in efforts to prove that he was supposedly not wearing a prosthetic face. He also made reference to current events like the probe into the bank accounts of prominent persons and the distribution of palliative rice in order to prove currency.
Doubts over the identity of the person who spoke as Kanu came after popular a blogger, Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, reported that the IPOB leader died in an Italian hospital from COVID-19 related complications. Her report about the demise of the Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari, of the same virus came two weeks before the announcement of his death.
IPOB has denied the blogger’s report even though it took a while before the group could put up the live broadcast having previously optied for audio recordings of Kanu who has not been seen in public for some time. The audio recordings were dismissed as forgeries.
An ardent follower of Kanu, who his identity for fear of repercussion, expressed his disappointment that the person who appeared in the live broadcast sat down for its entire duration, a situation that he said has added to his confusion.
“The man in that video is clearly shorter than our Nnamdi Kanu. If only he had stood up, we would have been able to say without any shred of doubt that this is our leader. He sat throughout the broadcast, which is now making those of us that are passionate about him to start taking a second look at this talk of cloning,” he said.
Meanwhile IPOB is reportedly in a fix as the doppelganger who stood in as Kanu’s body double is in pains from the cocktails of drugs administered to him to bolster him to be able to pull the stunt. The mixture of injectables were rushed into him without first verifying that they are compatible with him because they were in a hurry to make the broadcast.
Named as Paschal, the doppelganger is said to have threatened his recruiters with a lawsuit in the United Kingdom if his situation does not improve in the shortest time.
A security source had said, “At the very best Kanu is on life support and disconnecting him to make a video broadcast will certainly kill him. So, if IPOB says they are bringing Kanu to talk to people on video then it tallies with intelligence from the past that he might have created a clone of himself to evade arrest at that time.”
