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The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Igbo people, has again called on the federal government to release the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who has spent no fewer than 1,133 days in detention.
The group, who had on several occasions called for Kanu’s unconditional release, said it would lead to peace and harmony and quell the unrest in the South-East.
The President-General of Ohanaeze, Chief Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, before his death, had begged Tinubu to free Kanu.
He had said that the Presidential directive for Kanu’s release would reassure the Igbo-speaking states in Nigeria that President Bola Tinubu was a listening leader who had the feelings of the people in his heart.
The spokesperson for the group, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, said, “It will be the joy of all Igbo people if the Federal Government frees Kanu. It will quell the insecurity in the region and will make Igbo people happy.”
Recall that Kanu, who was arrested on June 27, 2021 in Kenya and subsequently extradited to Nigeria, is facing charges of terrorism, treasonable felony, and inciting violence through his Radio Biafra, among others.
Although Interpol had publicly denied any involvement in Kanu’s arrest, the FG said it collaborated with the international police to arrest the separatist.
Kanu’s arrest sparked significant unrest among Biafran separatists and their supporters, especially in the South-East, leading to the commencement of the Monday sit-at-home regime.
The World Igbo Congress had in 2021, condemned the arrest as “illegal abduction and international gangsterism.”
Kanu is facing treasonable felony charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
He is also facing charges of unlawful possession of firearms and management of an unlawful society.
