Timeframe: September 5, 2015
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Key Actors: Nnamdi Kanu, Attendees of the World Igbo Congress (WIC)
Epigraph:
“We need guns and we need bullets… It is either Biafra or death.”
— Nnamdi Kanu, Address to the World Igbo Congress, Los Angeles (September 2015) [1].
The Camera Lens
Los Angeles is a city of illusions, but on September 5, 2015, the scene inside the convention hall was starkly real. The air conditioning hummed against the California heat. The room was filled with the diaspora elite—doctors, engineers, and academics who had built successful lives in America but left their hearts in the East.
Nnamdi Kanu stood at the podium. He did not look like a warlord; he looked like a visiting dignitary. But the atmosphere was not one of diplomatic niceties. The “Nkpor Massacre” and the relentless jamming of Radio Biafra had hardened the mood.
The Camera Lens focuses on the faces in the crowd. They are not militants in the bush; they are grandfathers in suits. Yet, as Kanu speaks, nodding heads replace skeptical glances. He is not selling them a dream of development anymore; he is selling them the necessity of self-defense.
It was here, thousands of miles from the creeks of the Niger Delta, that the “Argument” died and the “War” was effectively declared.
The Disinterested Observer must pinpoint this specific speech as the legal and strategic turning point for the Nigerian State’s classification of IPOB.
Prior to this date, IPOB’s activities were largely characterized by protests, radio broadcasts, and civil disobedience. The Los Angeles speech fundamentally altered the risk profile. Forensic analysis of the video recordings shows Kanu explicitly requesting kinetic support.
The Request:
He did not ask for funds to build schools or pay legal fees. He asked the diaspora to fund the purchase of arms. His logic was simple and brutal: The Nigerian security forces were killing unarmed protesters (as seen in Chapter 8), and therefore, the protesters needed to shoot back.
This speech provided the Nigerian Department of State Services (DSS) with the “Actus Reus” (guilty act) needed to elevate the charge from “Sedition” (speech) to “Terrorism” (violent intent) and “Treasonable Felony” [2]. It was no longer a matter of free speech; it was a matter of solicited arms trafficking.
Why did the Reformer (Chapter 1) become the Warlord?
The “Los Angeles Pivot” was a reaction to the failure of the international community to intervene after the killings in 2015 and early 2016. Kanu’s calculation was cold: The world does not care about dead peaceful protesters. It only cares about conflict zones.
The Strategic Logic:
By calling for arms, Kanu was signaling that the “Ghandi Option” was closed. He was pivoting the movement from a “Civil Rights Struggle” (like Martin Luther King Jr.) to a “Liberation Struggle” (like the ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe).
This pivot was dangerous. It alienated the moderate Igbo intelligentsia who supported restructuring but feared another civil war. However, it electrified the “Street”—the youth in Aba and Onitsha who felt like sitting ducks for the Army. To them, Los Angeles was not a call to violence; it was a call to survival.
Source: Video Recording of Plenary Session, World Igbo Congress.
Date: September 5, 2015.
Duration: 12 Minutes.
The Key Excerpt:
“We need guns and we need bullets. It is either Biafra or death… If we don’t get Biafra, nobody will survive.” [3]
The Legal Consequence:
This specific clip became the centerpiece of the Federal Government’s prosecution file. It was played in court to justify the refusal of bail and the eventual proscription of IPOB as a terrorist organization in 2017.
Verdict:
Nnamdi Kanu handed the Nigerian State the weapon they needed to hunt him down legally.
The Closing Argument
Chapter 9 is the point of no return.
By asking for guns on American soil, Nnamdi Kanu crossed the Rubicon. He transformed himself from a “Prisoner of Conscience” (in the eyes of Amnesty International) into a “Security Threat” (in the eyes of the Nigerian State).
The Los Angeles speech stripped away the ambiguity. It signaled to Abuja that the “Prince” was no longer interested in a round table. He was building an army.
And if he was building an army, the State decided it would not wait for him to finish.
What happens when the State decides to strike first?
[1] Kanu, Nnamdi. (2015). Address to the World Igbo Congress (WIC). Los Angeles. [Video Archive: Widely circulated on YouTube and cited in Court Proceedings].
[2] Federal High Court, Abuja. (2015). Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015 - Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Nnamdi Kanu. (The amended charges citing solicitation of arms).
[3] The Cable. (2015). ‘We need guns and bullets’ – video of Nnamdi Kanu resurfaces. [URL: https://www.thecable.ng/we-need-guns-and-bullets-video-of-nnamdi-kanu-resurfaces]