Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) says he ran away from Nigeria because of his life.
Mr Kanu stated this in a live broadcast on Saturday. The facebook page of the outlawed group aired the broadcast.
The IPOB leader had in September 2017 disappeared from public glare, last year he surfaced in Isreal but he is said to be in Britain at the moment.
After he ran away, the federal government hurriedly proscribed his group to curb its growing influence in the South East region and beyond. But this has not whittled down the influence of the group as its membership continued to soar high.
Critics mocked him for abandoning his followers and running away but the Biafra leader has hit back at them saying he needs to be alive and champion the aim of the group which seeks an independent state through referendum.
“Yes, I fled to Israel because it is the safest place for me and I needed to stay alive and achieve Biafra republic,” Mr Kanu said in the broadcast.
“Tell those who said that I ran away to read their history book, they will find out that all the popular human rights activists, both dead and alive, ran away when it’s the best time to.
“I ran away because Jubril sent the military to my house to come and kill me and they expected me to stay and confront them. I’m unarmed just as IPOB members are unarmed group,” he said.
Kanu once described President Muhammadu Buhari as impostor, claiming the present occupant of the seat of power is a certain Jubril from Sudan. He did not provide any evidence to back up his claims.
The separatist leader in his recent broadcast also claimed Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not a Nigerian. He claimed the former vice president is from Cameroon.
Mr Abubakar has challenged him to back up his claims with evidence. He is yet to do so as at press time.
Meanwhile, the group has urged its supporters to boycott the forthcoming general election because it’s not beneficial to them.
