Embattled leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, says some government officials are profiting from the insecurity ubiquitous in the South-East geopolitical zone.

Kanu made this known on Tuesday after he was denied bail by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja.

The IPOB leader, who spoke after the court proceedings, said peace will be restored in the South-East if he is released from custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

“I suspect that some people in government are complicit. They are making money with this insecurity. They know if Nnamdi Kanu is outside, in two minutes, this nonsense will stop,” Kanu told reporters.

“Anybody involved in any form of violence in the South-East in the name of IPOB, let me come out of this nonsense, this mess, only two minutes, I guarantee you, and there will be peace in the South-East.”

Earlier, the IPOB leader, who has been in the custody of the DSS since his extradition in June 2021, and is facing charges bordering on treasonable felony, told the court that he is being treated poorly by the secret police, and that there is a conspiracy for him to die in the custody.

In the last three years, the South-East, one of the six geopolitical zones in the country, has suffered unprecedented dastard attacks by so-called “unknown gunmen”, who revel in the desecration of the area, killing hundreds of security operativesm burning down police stations and military facilities.

The economies of Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Imo and Enugu have suffered a dip in the last three years since the menacing phenomenon known as Monday sit-at-home declared by secessionist agitators. While leaders in the zone continue their quest for a political solution to the escalating situation, travellers and residents tread with fear as bloodthirsty non-state actors wreak havoc in the states.