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• Says, no reason keeping IPOB leader in detention
• His incarceration crime against Ndigbo – Lawyers
From Magnus Eze (Enugu), Ogbonnaya Ndukwe (Aba) and Okey Sampson, (Umuahia)
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and Igbo Lawyers Association (ILA), a body of legal practitioners of Igbo origin, have condemned the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu by the federal government.
They said that there is no reason for the continued incarceration of the self-determination agitator, almost three years after he was intercepted in Kenya on June 27, 2021 and returned to Nigeria by the federal government.
The Ohanaeze leader also disclosed what transpired between the detained Kanu and Ohaaneze leaders at a meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
Ohanaeze and the Igbo lawyers spoke separately against the backdrop of the fact that the government recently dropped terrorism charges against Miyetti Allah leader, Bello Bodejo, as well as Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Igboho, who was held in Benin Republic for a similar offence, but who had since been left off the hook. President General of Ohanaeze, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu in an interview with Saturday Sun, insisted that Kanu should have been released the same way others charged with the same offences were freed.
“The truth about it is that Nnamdi Kanu was charged and he was granted bail, terrorism charge you can’t get a bail. Then, there was an attempt to kill him according to his report and he ran away. Judges have tried him and they said he has no case to answer; till now we don’t know what he has done. If you ask me about his terrorism charge, did he topple a government? Is there anybody he killed?
“As an Igbo leader, I don’t know what Nnamdi Kanu has done, nobody has given me a clear picture of the offence he has committed and that’s why on behalf of Ndigbo, I’m saying Nnamdi Kanu should be released. “If they can release these other people, I don’t see why they can’t release Kanu. I’m giving this government one advice to release him. I’m no longer a young person.
“And again, I must say, until Nigeria is restructured it will continue to have people asking for separation. That somebody asked for secession doesn’t mean he has committed any treason. What Nnamdi Kanu did was to say he was not happy with what was happening in the country, about Igbo being marginalised, which is true.
“We’re being marginalised, so all the government needs to do is to address the problem by restructuring Nigeria. Nnamdi Kanu should not be kept in detention any longer, there’s no reason why he should be there. That’s my position as the leader of Ndigbo,” Iwuanyanwu said.
Elsewhere, the Ohanaeze President General revealed what they discussed with Kanu, when he led a delegation of Igbo leaders and visited him at the Department of State Service (DSS) facility in Abuja on Thursday.
Other members of the delegation are former Enugu State Governor, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Secretary General of Ohanaeze, Okey Emuchay, Chief Simon Okeke (Eze Igbo Abuja), Nwosu Ibe, Secretary of Igbo Elders Consultative Forum (IECF), Prof Charles Nwekeaku, and a youth leader, Monday Diamond.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja after the visit, Iwuanyanwu explained that there were no complications between his push for the restructuring of Nigeria and the agitation for self-determination being pursued by Kanu.
“Nnamdi Kanu, like many other Nigerian children, has expressed his disappointment because they believe they lack opportunities. They believe there is discrimination; they feel that things are not going the way they should go. So, it is not only Nnamdi Kanu that has asked for the restructuring of Nigeria. And let’s go back to history and see that we have been talking about the restructuring of this country because it has failed to work. This move was made by Adaka Boro from the Niger Delta who was later conscripted into the Nigerian Army. So, it is all about making Nigeria work and that has to be done before all this agitation stops,” he said.
The elder statesman admonished that until the proper restructuring of Nigeria was done, more agitation may likely arise.
In addition, Iwuanyanwu absolved Kanu of the frequent sit-at-home calls by IPOB, including the observance of Biafra Day on May 30, which disrupted economic activities and affected candidates writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in the region.
He said: “I can tell you that Nnamdi Kanu is not a member or leader of IPOB. Please do not forget that he has been saying it and he said it again to me today. I am appealing to the President to release Nnamdi Kanu so that we can see whether the perpetrators would see reasons again to carry out the heinous crime. Like I told you, my going there is to make sure that Nnamdi has no hand in what IPOB is doing and I can tell you that he has said it again to my face that he has no hand in it.”
Another elder statesman, Chief Chuks Muoma has declared that the federal government’s renewed position in the continued detention of Kanu has brought to the fore the Nigerian government’s hatred for Ndigbo.
Leader of Igbo Lawyers Association, Muoma, said Kanu was suffering in solitary incarceration for doing nothing other than agitating for his people’s freedom.
He asked why it was taking Kanu’s captors so long to try him and if found guilty, sentence him, instead of keeping him in chains as a political prisoner. On the withdrawal of a terrorism charge against the Miyetti Allah leader, Badejo, the eminent lawyer said the hatred against Ndigbo was very endemic despite the fact that the Igbo were among those that fought hard to win independence for Nigeria.
“I have told our people to leave seeking political relevance in a short-sighted nation that has forgotten the contributions of the likes of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Michael Okpara, Akanu Ibiam, Dennis Osadebey, Mbonu Ojike, among others,” the elder statesman said.
