From Godwin Tsa and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Senators from the South East region of Nigeria have made a passionate appeal to President Bola Tinubu to order the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The Senators led by former Abia state deputy governor, Eyinanya Abaribe and Victor Ume, said unless Kanu is released, the social and economic activities in the South East region will continue to be stagnant.
The Senators who held a meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi delivered a letter urging Tinubu to release the IPOB leader.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Abaribe who spoke on behalf of his colleagues said he was optimistic that the AGF would persuade the Federal Government to heed to the call for Kanu’s release.
He maintained that the continued detention of the IPOB leader was responsible for the rising level of insecurity and agitations in the South East region.
According to him, unless Kanu is released, social and economic activities within the region would remain stagnant.
Abaribe disclosed that he had already met with Kanu at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS). He said the embattled IPOB leader agreed to abide by any condition the FG would give for his release.
The Senator lamented that the economy and social life in the South East had suffered enough due to the continued incarceration of the Biafra Nation Agitator.
The meeting between the lawmakers and the AGF came barely after all the Governors from the South East region resolved to approach President Bola Tinubu to beg for Kanu’s freedom.
Similarly, the South East caucus of the House of Representatives has joined the call for his release.
The caucus, in a statement, appealed to President Tinubu to consider the release of Kanu and others in similar situation. The lawmakers noted that the IPOB leader’s release remains the most effective way of restoring peace in the South East.
The South East caucus, in statement, which was signed by all the 43 members from the zone, including the deputy speaker, Benjamin Kalu, noted that the the appeal for an out-of-court settlement of Kanu’s case was also supported by the Federal High Court.
“As a Caucus of the House of Representatives from where Mazi Nnamdi Kanu hails from, we have taken liberty, in consonance with parliamentary practice, to seek the support of other Regional caucuses of the House of Representatives, to achieve a quick and responsible resolution of the seemingly intractable Mazi Nnamdi Kanu case, a legal impasse that is undoubtedly the missing puzzle in solving the lingering security conundrum in the south East of Nigeria.
“We, therefore, as Representatives of the five south East states in the House of Representatives, urge Mr President, to consider the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his other similarly detained followers.
“We are convinced that a political settlement of this matter by way of out-of-court settlement, as canvassed before Justice Binta Nyako, is the quickest, most effective, and honorable way of closing this difficult and painful chapter of our national history.”
Earlier, about 50 members of the House of Representatives, who identified themselves as “Concerned Federal Lawmakers for Peace and Security in the South East”, had prayed President Tinubu to direct the AGF to invoke Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution to terminate the terrorism-related charge against Kanu before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
Kanu was first arrested in Lagos on October 14, 2015, upon his return to the country from the United Kingdom. Trial Justice Binta Nyako had on April 25, 2017, granted him bail on health grounds, after he had spent about 18 months in detention.
Upon the perfection of the bail conditions, he was on April 28, 2017, released from the Kuje prison.
However, midway into the trial, the IPOB leader escaped from the country after soldiers invaded his country home at Afara Ukwu Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia State, an operation that led to the death of some of his followers.
Meanwhile, Kanu was later re-arrested in Kenya on June 19, 2021 and extraordinarily renditioned back to the country by security agents on June 27, 2021.
Following the development, the trial court, on June 29, 2021, remanded him in custody of DSS, where he remained till date.
Meanwhile, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has denied discussing the release of Nnamdi Kanu with the South East governors in Enugu on Tuesday.
A statement by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, in Abeokuta, said contrary to media reports, the former president and Chief Emeka Anyaoku met with the governors on their own invitation to discuss regional development issues.
The statement said the purported release of Kanu by the Federal Government was not part of it.
Obasanjo said the regional development issues include security and infrastructure, economic and cooperative collaboration among others.
“The meeting with them was at my invitation and to Anyaoku before their summit began.
“The issue of Nnamdi Kanu was not on the agenda and was not discussed in my presence,” the statement said.
