Separatist

Oct. 20 (UPI) — Police in Nigeria broke up several protests calling for a separatist leader who has been detained for more than four years to be freed and cleared of terrorism-related charges on which he has been held.

Protesters demanding the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatist party, had tear gas fired at them by police in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, according to reports.

Witnesses said they saw police officers block major roads in Abuja and fire multiple rounds of tear gas at protesters who had gathered near the Transcorps Hilton Hotel in order to break up the protest.

Ahead of Monday’s protest, Nigeria Police Force spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin announced a nationwide security alert urging the protesters to avoid inciting violence, carrying weapons or engaging in other illegal acts.

“The Nigeria Police Force reaffirms its commitment to upholding the rule of law and maintaining public peace in accordance with constitutional provisions,” Hundeyin said in a statement.

“All groups, whether in support of or opposed to the ongoing agitation for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, are expected to comply strictly with the provisions of the court order” authorizing the protest, he said.

Kanu has been held since 2021 on charges of terrorism, which followed Nigeria outlawing the IPOB, whose goal is to establish a separate state of Biafra for the Igbo people.

In 2022, Kanu was discharged and acquitted but the ruling was overturned in 2022 and he has remained jailed ever since.

Monday’s protest was organized by Omoyele Sowore, who publishes the Saraha Reporters news website and has long sought Kanu’s release.

Sowore reported on X that at least 13 people had been arrested and detained during the initial protest, which was relocated to the nearby federal capital territory police command “where the police responded by attacking us right in front of the command.”

Among those arrested during the protest were members of Kanu’s family and his lawyers, Sowore said.

Aug. 11 (UPI) — The United States on Monday designated the Pakistan-based separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army and its Majeed Brigade suicide attack unit as foreign terrorist organizations.

The designations from the State Department come years after it designated the BLA as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2019. The move on Monday also includes designating the Majeed Brigade as an SDGT.

The BLA is primarily located in Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan, and seeks independence from Islamabad, while the Majeed Brigade is a unit of the BLA that conducts suicide attacks on its behalf.

According to West Point’s Terrorism Center, the Baloch insurgency has intensified this year. On March 11, the BLA hijacked a Jaffar Express passenger train, kidnapping 400 people and resulting in the deaths of at least 26 hostages.

In the past year, it has claimed responsibility for suicide attacks near the Karachi airport and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex.

Often targets of the Majeed Brigade are Chinese workers or enterprises as the BLA opposes the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The State Department blacklisted the BLA in 2019, following several terrorist attacks in the preceding year, including the targeting of Chinese engineers in Balochistan and the Chinese consulate in Karachi in November 2018.

“Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against this scourge and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday in a statement.

The new terrorist designation is broader than the previous SDGT, and bars U.S. citizens from supporting the BLA.

It also comes nearly a month after the State Department designated The Resistance Front, which it called a front and proxy group of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.