South-East leaders Demand Kanu’s Release

South-East leaders have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

They appealed on Friday at a meeting with the President, who is on a two-day visit to Ebonyi State.

Giving his address at the Ebonyi State Stakeholders’ Forum, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the South East, Reverend Father Abraham Nwali, made the plea on behalf of the South-East leaders at the Government House in Abakaliki, the state capital.

“We plead for a political solution as a father; a kind father, a forgiving father, to grant Nnamdi Kanu freedom,” he said. “We say that he should be granted a pardon.

“And we call on all agitators to cease all forms of hostilities and rather demand a nation where the plights of the poor, the weak, the oppressed will be addressed.”

However, the President did not respond whether he would consider the request of the Igbo leaders or not. He charged them to interfere in the ongoing court process. 

Recall that in 2015, Kanu was first arraigned on charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society, publication of defamatory matter, illegal possession of firearms, and improper importation of goods, among others.

In 2017 after being granted bail on medical grounds, he fled the country. But in June 2021, he was intercepted and repatriated to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, on April 8, when the Federal High Court in Abuja resumed his case, Justice Binta Nyak struck out eight of the 15 counts filed against him by the government.

Despite repeated calls for his release, the federal government has not yielded to any calls.