From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Council of Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is making efforts for the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to be released to attend a peace summit it is organising to resolve security challenge and sit-at-home orders by some pro-Biafra groups.
Also invited to the summit is Finland-based Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, and other leaders of pro-Biafra groups as well as Igbo stakeholders.
Chairman, Council of Elders of the Igbo apex group, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who disclosed this, yesterday, during a press conference in Owerri, said the summit will also pave way for a smooth election in the zone.
Iwuanyanwu said: “I’m hearing there would be no election in Igboland, I’m so worried and people would start wondering what is wrong with the youths; our brother, Kanu is held, everybody know that the Igbo are not in government, but we’re trying our best, there’s nothing Igbo should do that we have not done.
“Even the judge has said Kanu should be released. Ohanaeze and other Igbo leaders have done everything possible for him to be released. For somebody to now start killing, disarming policemen, innocent people, saying unless Kanu is released… but I’m assuring you, he will be released.
“The truth about it is that this thing has worried me, I have had sleepless nights worrying about the future of our people and you know if we don’t have any election in Igboland it would be a calamity that means people can voice anybody they want to rule us.
“The Igbo are not in charge of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), they’re not in charge of the government, so I’m addressing you to let you know how I feel. This thing worried me so much and after so many sleepless nights, I had to call an emergency meeting of Council of Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. I told them this is a frustrating situation, people are being killed any how.
“At that meeting, it was resolved we should have a peace summit in Igboland to give these people an opportunity because if people have been attacking our people and succeeding, we have to find a means of talking with them. It’s not enough to say we’re going to get aircraft to bomb them. That is not the solution, the solution will not come by bringing soldiers to go and kill them because they have tried that in the past two years and it did not work.
“So, the elders then decided the best thing would be to have a peace summit. This decision is taken by the Council of Elders of Ohanaeze worldwide. We have not been able to fix the date of the summit because we want the five state governors to be involved. I have written a letter to the chairman of the governors’ forum who must have copied all the governors. We also wrote to the inspector general of police.
“At the peace summit, we hope and appeal to the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu for us. Kanu would be one of those who will participate in the summit. Also, we intend to invite Ekpa. All of them will come because they’re Igbo,” he said.