Nigerian singer Kingsley Okonkwo, popularly known as Kcee, has stirred conversation after declaring himself a Biafran, insisting that every Igbo person falls under the Biafran identity.
Speaking during an interview with Yanga 89.9 FM, Lagos, the singer argued that Biafra should be understood as a cultural and ethnographical region similar to Arewa in the North and Oduduwa in the South-West, rather than a separatist label.
Kcee said, “As far as I am concerned, every Igbo man under the sun today is a Biafran. I am a Biafran. I am an Igbo man and Biafra is where we are from. It is just like the Arewas and Oduduwas.”
He further explained the historical context behind the name, stressing that it pre-dates today’s political interpretations.
According to him, “Biafra was created in 1967. Frank Opigo from Bayelsa suggested that name for the Igbos and we adopted it in 1967. Before 1967, who are we? Igbos. Being Igbo means you are still a Biafran.”
Kcee maintained that identifying as Igbo naturally places a person within the broader Biafran heritage.
Naijaonpoint recalls that on July 17, 2025, an Ebonyi State High Court sitting in Abakaliki discharged and acquitted the final batch of 24 Biafran agitators standing trial for conspiracy and treason, ending a four-year-long legal battle.
The judgment, delivered by Justice I. P. Chima, brings to a close the cases of 36 pro-Biafra activists who were arrested and remanded in custody on May 24, 2020. The first set of 12 had been earlier freed in separate rulings.
The freedom fighters, arrested over their alleged involvement in secessionist activities, had been in prison custody since 2020, awaiting trial on charges that defence lawyers say were “recycled and baseless.”
Their release in July followed a preliminary objection filed by the defence team, which argued that the accused were being subjected to double jeopardy, a violation of Section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The court upheld the argument that under the legal doctrine of autrefois acquit, no person should be tried again for offences for which they had previously been discharged and acquitted.
Justice Chima, agreeing with the submissions made by the defence counsel, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, ordered the immediate release of the 24 detainees from the correctional centre.
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