Nnamdi Kanu’s Wife Okwu-Kanu Demands Probe Into Ozioma’s 5-Year Wawa Detention

For more than five years, a family allegedly lived without knowing whether their daughter and sister was alive or dead. Now that she has resurfaced in court, Mrs Uchechi Okwu-Kanu is demanding answers over the alleged secret detention of Onyeaka Ozioma Elizabeth at the Wawa Military Detention Centre in Kainji, Niger State.

Onyeaka Ozioma Elizabeth is a woman Mrs Uchechi Okwu-Kanu says was allegedly detained for more than five years at the Wawa Military Detention Centre in Kainji, Niger State. Okwu-Kanu is demanding an independent investigation into her arrest, treatment and prolonged detention, as well as an account of other people allegedly being held

Mrs Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, wife of detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu, has demanded an independent investigation into the arrest, prolonged detention and treatment of Onyeaka Ozioma Elizabeth.

Okwu-Kanu said Ozioma was allegedly detained for more than five years without her family being told whether she was alive or dead.

She also demanded an account of all persons allegedly being held incommunicado at the Wawa Military Detention Centre in Kainji, Niger State.

The demand followed the emergence of a video showing Ozioma at the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 15, 2026.

According to Okwu-Kanu, Ozioma reportedly said she was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) at 3-3, Onitsha, Anambra State, more than five years ago.

She was allegedly transferred to the Wawa detention facility in Kainji, where she reportedly remained without access to her family or a lawyer before being brought to Abuja to face trial.

Family Allegedly Unaware Ozioma Was Alive

Okwu-Kanu said the circumstances surrounding Ozioma’s alleged detention raise serious concerns about due process, prolonged incommunicado detention and the rights of suspects.

She said Ozioma provided her sister’s telephone number to the person who recorded the video at the court.

When her sister was contacted, she reportedly expressed disbelief that Ozioma was still alive.

“Think about that. For more than five years, a family did not know whether their daughter and sister was alive or dead,” Okwu-Kanu said.

“Ozioma was removed from everything and everyone she knew, transported from Anambra State to Kainji in Niger State, and later brought to Abuja to face trial.”

The development, she argued, raises questions about whether a fair trial can be guaranteed after years of alleged isolation and limited access to family members and legal representation.

“What manner of trial or justice can emerge from detention of this nature? How does a person adequately defend herself after allegedly being denied access to her family and legal representation for years?” she asked.

Okwu-Kanu Questions Impact of Prolonged Detention

Okwu-Kanu also demanded answers about the alleged psychological, emotional and physical effects of Ozioma’s prolonged detention.

“Who accounts for the psychological, emotional and physical damage inflicted upon her and the anguish imposed upon her family?” she asked.

She further questioned whether Ozioma’s alleged association with the Biafran cause or IPOB contributed to her prolonged detention.

“Is her real ‘crime’ that she is accused of being Biafran?” she asked.

According to Okwu-Kanu, peaceful expression of support for self-determination should not, by itself, become grounds for persecution.

“Why should anyone face persecution merely for identifying as Biafran or an IPOB member peacefully expressing a belief in self-determination?” she said.

“People publicly identify with Oduduwa and Arewa without being disappeared into military detention. Why, then, should a Biafran identity be treated as though it were itself a criminal offence?”

‘This Is Bigger Than One Woman’

Okwu-Kanu said the Ozioma case should not be treated as an isolated incident.

“This is bigger than one woman,” she said.

“It raises urgent questions about the many people who may still be held in Wawa and other detention facilities – unseen, unheard and unreachable by their families.”

She insisted that Ozioma remains entitled to basic legal and human rights protections, regardless of the allegations against her.

“Onyeaka Ozioma Elizabeth has a name. She has a family. She has rights. She is not a number to be buried inside a secret detention system,” Okwu-Kanu said.

IPOB Allegations and South-East Security Operations

The allegations have emerged amid wider concerns over the treatment of suspects arrested in connection with separatist-related cases in the South-East.

A recent SaharaReporters investigation examined claims that violent crimes, political assassinations, communal killings and controversial arrests in the region have frequently been attributed to IPOB and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

The investigation reportedly drew on interviews with affected families, retired police officers, lawyers and human rights advocates, as well as an examination of police documents.

It raised questions about the quality of investigations into some controversial cases and alleged that hurried official narratives, political pressure and misconduct by some security personnel may have affected accountability.

In some cases, the investigation suggested that early attribution of incidents to IPOB or ESN may have shifted attention away from questions about the identities, motives and interests of those responsible.

The pattern has also fuelled concerns among families whose relatives were arrested during security operations but were allegedly not promptly charged or given clear information about their whereabouts.

Security agencies, however, have maintained that their operations in the South-East target individuals suspected of violent activities, terrorism and threats to national security.

Authorities have also denied operating outside the law and have defended the deployment of security forces against armed groups in the region.

Okwu-Kanu Demands Answers Over Wawa Detainees

Okwu-Kanu maintained that national security concerns should not be used to justify concealing the whereabouts of detainees or denying them due process.

She called for transparency, access to legal representation and family contact for Ozioma and other detainees.

“We demand an independent investigation into her arrest, detention, treatment and the legal basis upon which she was held,” she said.

“And we demand an account of every person still detained incommunicado in Wawa.”

She added: “Nigeria cannot call this justice. A country in which families must discover through a courtroom video that their missing loved ones are still alive is a country facing a profound crisis of law, humanity and conscience.”

The case has renewed questions about the treatment of suspects held in connection with separatist-related cases, the use of IPOB allegations in criminal investigations and the safeguards available to detainees before they are brought before a court.

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