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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia and Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Reactions have continued to trail the recent call on President Bola Tinubu to either grant immediate and unconditional release to the convicted Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, or send him back to Kenya.
A traditional ruler from Enugu State, Igwe Lawrence Agubuzo made the call at a face-to-face meeting with the president.
Founder and leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has thrown his weight behind Igwe Agubuzo’s call.
He said, “Yes, I share his views on the issue. That has been the position of Ohaneze Ndigbo,” adding that he was “glad the Igwe eminently represented Ndigbo and reminded President Tinubu of our continuous request for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.”
Uwazuruike noted that the president had previously insisted the matter be concluded in court, and now that the legal process has run its course, “I wonder what next is holding them from freeing Nnamdi Kanu”.
In a separate statement, Chief Goddy Uwazuruike described the Enugu monarch as “one of the most courageous in Igbo land” and urged President Tinubu to heed his appeal. “I’m strongly in support of what Igwe Agubuzo has said to President Tinubu. He saw the advantage to speak to him and he did. You don’t know him, he’s bold and courageous; and he has done what most Igbo elders could not do,” he said. He further asked the president to treat Kanu with the same consideration given to Sunday Igboho, and to ignore “Igbo haters,” emphasising that Kanu remains a respected figure in Igbo society, even though his order to end the Monday sit‑at‑home from Sokoto prison has been thwarted by unknown gunmen.
Similarly, legal luminary, Chief Mike Ahamba, has weighed in on Igwe Agubuzor’s request to President Bola Tinubu for the release of Kanu, describing the monarch’s action as a bold and courageous step.
He said, “I’m not surprised at the bold steps of Igwe Agubuzo asking President Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu when he had the opportunity. “We were at the National Conference together, and I know he has been courageous all along.”
Ahamba expressed confidence that the president would eventually order Kanu’s release, but noted that it may come with conditions.
“I know the president will release Nnamdi Kanu, but not without some concessions and political agreement. Let him listen to the voices of these Igbo elders appealing to him,” he added.
Also, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has commended Igwe Agubuzo for his bold and uncompromising speech to President Tinubu, describing it as the “wisest counsel from a true Nigerian traditional leader.”
In a statement, MASSOB leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, acknowledged and appreciated the monarch’s remarks, noting that Igwe Agubuzo has always commanded the trust and confidence of Ndigbo because of his integrity and commitment to discharging his sacred traditional duties.
“Igwe Agubuzo is not only a traditional ruler, he is a traditional leader of Ala Igbo,” Madu said. “Ndigbo always have absolute trust and confidence in him because of his uncompromising nature and personal integrity in discharging his sacred traditional duties for Enugu State and Ndigbo in general.”
MASSOB emphasised that the monarch’s appeal to President Tinubu was not a plea, but a call for fairness and equity. “He is not begging President Bola Tinubu to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, but to extend the same measure he displayed on Sunday Igboho, his kinsman,” the statement read.
The group further pledged its solidarity with leaders and friends of Ndigbo, irrespective of tribe or nation, and celebrated Igwe Agubuzo for his courage and wisdom in speaking truth to power.
Three Igbo advocacy groups based in the United States, American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), Ambassadors for Self-Determination (ASD), and Rising Sun Foundation (RSF), in a statement, commended the Enugu monarch for his courage in telling President Tinubu what others had failed to tell him.
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The statement was jointly signed by Dr. Sylvester Onyia for AVID; Chief Evans Nwankwo for ASD, and Dr. Maxwell Dede for RSF read:
“We unequivocally commend His Royal Majesty, Eze Agubuzu of Enugu, for his unflinching courage in telling President Bola Tinubu to his face what other Igbo traditional rulers have been too weak, too compromised, or too cowardly to say. ‘Release Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu immediately, or return him to Kenya’.
“Let it be known that HRM Eze Lawrence Agubuzu and HRM Eze Chukwuemeka Eri are currently the only monarchs who have publicly understood the depth of the pain, injustice, and anguish inflicted upon our people by the illegal detention of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“While Fulani herder murderers are pampered, Yoruba agitators walk free, and the Nigerian state continues to show contempt for Igbo humanity, the majority of Igbo kings and chiefs, including the Obi of Onitsha and Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, remain silent. Their silence is complicity; their inaction is betrayal.
“We ask plainly: ‘What are the titles and crowns of these so-called leaders worth if they cannot stand for the lives, liberty, and dignity of their own people? AlaIgbo cannot survive leaders who place personal comfort above collective justice’”.
The groups called on all Igbo traditional rulers to abandon cowardice and complicity and speak with one voice, stressing that the time for half-measures, whispers, and veiled statements is over.
“Step up boldly for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, or step aside and make room for leaders who will. History will not forgive those who chose silence while our people suffered injustice.”
They commended the courage of Igwe Agubuzor, saying he demonstrated that moral authority, not fear of Abuja, is what preserves a people’s dignity.
A university lecturer, Prof. Leo Obinna of Michael OKpara University, Umudike, described Igwe Agubuzor as a bold and courageous monarch, adding that his thought aligns with that of the majority of the Igbo.
“We want President Bola Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally. Igwe Agubuzor is a bold and courageous monarch. All he told the president is our thoughts. Not many leaders will speak the way he did. I have my kudos for him, he has my respect.
“Sunday Igboho committed the same alleged offence as Nnamdi Kanu, Igboho has been pardoned and we hear that the Ooni of Ife is trying to give him the highest honour in Yoruba land, while our own Nnamdi Kanu is languishing in prison.”
He said if it were to be in other climes where justice and fairness rule supreme, Kanu would have been released.
A lawyer, Godwin I. Chinonye, while welcoming the call by Igwe Agubuzor to Tinubu to release Kanu, said it is very clear the IPOB leader did not do anything.
“The traditional ruler was very correct in what he said. In other regions, people like Kanu were released. Indeed, I am commending the traditional ruler for what he said.
An Umuahia-based lawyer, Okezie Ohajuruka, described Igwe Agubuzor as the type of leaders the Igbo need at this point in time, people who would speak truth to power.
Former President General of Nnamdi Kanu’s community, Afaraukwu, Umuahia, Ikechukwu Ndubueze, hailed the monarch for telling the president the truth. He said the IPOB leader would have long been released if he was not an Igbo, and called on other Igbo leaders to speak out to get their son released.
“I don’t think if Nnamdi Kanu were to be a Yoruba or Fulani man, he would still be in prison; but because he is Igbo, they want him to die in prison”, Ndubueze said.
