In order to free pro-Biafra agitator Nnamdi Kanu, the apex Igbo sociocultural organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo has pleaded with Northern authorities and former militant commander Asari Dokubo.
Kanu declared that he would never ask the Federal Government or President Bola Tinubu for his release, and Ohanaeze responded by making the appeal.
Kanu added that begging for his release would be an insult to Pa Mbazulike Amaechi’s beloved memory, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 91.
You might recall that after the Appeal Court ordered the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, a delegation of Igbo elders requested his release.
Ohanaeze, though, is of the opinion that Northerners and Dokubo are still working to exert pressure on the Federal Government to refuse to grant Kanu’s release request.
Kanu’s remark was appropriate, and people should stop pleading for his release, according to a statement from the factional secretary-general of Ohanaeze, Okechukwu Isiguzoro.
Isiguzoro argued that the Supreme Court should set a date for the hearing of the government’s appeal against Kanu’s release because the Appeal Court’s ruling regarding his release is still binding.
As Kanu has been held without regard to court orders for a number of years, the organisation further demanded that the Federal Government uphold the law and release him immediately.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, is believed to have played a significant role in the earlier release of Nnamdi Kanu, the imprisoned leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in 2017,” the statement adds.
“The group allegedly dispatched a delegation to the North and well-known Nigerians to appease them and solicit their support for Kanu’s release.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo is probably going to use a similar tactic this time around, concentrating on clandestine networking with important players and appealing to individuals who have previously been offended by Kanu’s broadcasts.
The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, or MASSOB, whose leadership was instrumental in Kanu’s earlier release in 2017 and who are rich businessmen of Igbo descent, may also be contacted for aid by the organisation.
The necessity to appease some allies of the government, particularly those Northern leadership and groups like Asari Dokubo, a former Niger Delta militant, makes the current position more difficult and there is a lack of diplomatic underground activity.
Igbos changed their strategy in order to secure Kanu’s release since “the violent sit-at-home protests have also not yielded any desired results.”
