The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex socio-political group, is urging the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, as a Christmas gesture for the South-East region.
Speaking on behalf of the group, the Vice-President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, emphasized that failure to release Kanu would be a disappointment for the people of the South-East during the Christmas season.
This call comes ahead of the Supreme Court’s judgment on December 15, 2023, regarding the Federal Government’s case against Kanu.
Okeke-Ogene refuted claims that prominent Igbo figures, including governors, were supporting Kanu’s continued detention.
He highlighted that the release of Kanu was long overdue, citing previous court decisions that found him not guilty.
“We don’t want to dwell much on the politics about the release of Kanu. If he is released on December 15, it is long overdue because competent courts of jurisdiction have on two occasions found him not guilty and also released him, but till now, nothing was done about it.
“So, we hope that the Supreme Court will equally do justice to it with the expectation that every Igbo man is expecting that President Bola Tinubu should know that the money and lives being wasted on the issue are not worth it. And he should, therefore, set the man free as a Christmas gift to the South-East if he truly wants peace to return to the region.
“The President should emulate former Presidents Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, who used the carrot and stick approach to stop the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta region. The average Igbo person is also facing the same situation.
“Kanu should be a free man from December 15 and anything short of that has dashed the hope of the whole of the people of South-East this Christmas. If he is not released, it will be a black Christmas in the region.
“We are not in the position to pre-empt the court but for now, we are looking up to the Supreme Court, if it is a country where the judiciary works, we don’t have to be afraid that the Federal Government would influence the judgment,” he said
Meanwhile, IPOB, through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, raised concerns about the recent promotion of Justice Tsammani Haruna to the Supreme Court.
Powerful claimed that the promotion was a reward for Haruna’s role in remanding Kanu in DSS detention, expressing worries about potential influence on the judgment scheduled for December 15, 2023.
