South-East senators implore Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu.
Senators from the South-East have urged President Bola Tinubu to order the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the incarcerated leader of the indigenous people of Biafra.
The MPs, led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said that without Kanu’s release, the southeast region’s social and economic activity will stall.
The senators handed their letter to President Tinubu regarding Kanu’s release during a closed-door meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
Addressing journalists immediately following the meeting, Abaribe, speaking on behalf of his colleagues, bemoaned that the region’s economy and social life had suffered enough as a result of the Biafran agitator’s ongoing detention.
Abaribe expressed deep worry that hoodlums and hardened criminals had hijacked the nonviolent demand of the arrested IPOB leader, resulting in the wanton slaughter of innocent people, including security personnel.
The former Abia State Deputy Governor informed journalists that he met with Kanu at the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters in Abuja on Monday and that Kanu consented to any conditional release.
Senator Abaribe expressed hope that Kanu’s release will bring an end to the turmoil and animosity that has afflicted the region since his detention by the DSS in 2021.
The senators pleaded with the AGF to deliver their message to President Tinubu and to utilise his position to dismiss all charges brought against the IPOB leader by the federal government.
Almost all political leaders, religious leaders, and stakeholders, including senators, have unanimously agreed that Kanu’s release is required for peace to return to the region.
In 2021, the Federal Government re-arrested Kanu in Kenya and brought him to face a terrorist prosecution.
Despite his plea of not guilty to the allegations, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja refused to admit him to bail on the grounds that he skipped the previous one, in which Senator Abaribe was his surety.
Kanu has been detained by the DSS since the Federal High Court in Abuja issued its decision.