Former South-East spokesman for President Bola Tinubu’s campaign, Denge Josef Onoh, has appealed to the President for the immediate and unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
He also called for the removal of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, from Nigeria’s criminal wanted list.
Onoh made the appeal in a statement issued Thursday in Abuja, citing fairness, national reconciliation, and the restoration of public trust as critical reasons for his call.
He said the recent peace agreements between state governments and known terrorist leaders, particularly the Katsina peace deal with bandit kingpin Isiya Kwashen Garwa, deeply provoked his position.
He described the development as a gross miscarriage of justice and a violation of constitutional principles, especially when contrasted with the continued detention of Kanu and persecution of Igboho—both of whom, he argued, had never engaged in mass violence.
“These deals, often conducted under the guise of community negotiations in places like Faskari and Batsari Local Government Areas, granted impunity to criminals who have orchestrated unimaginable horrors, while agitators such as Kanu languish in detention for advocating non-violently for self-determination,” Onoh said.
“Such arrangements, which have seen bandits surrender token weapons like a handful of AK-47 rifles in exchange for de facto amnesty, fly in the face of Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees the right to life, and the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, which demands accountability for acts of terror,” he argued.
Onoh also referenced criticisms from public figures such as Senator Shehu Sani, who condemned the government’s tendency to negotiate with terrorists responsible for widespread bloodshed. He stated that the trend undermines the rule of law and creates an impression of selective justice.
“This disparity in treatment reveals systemic inequities, the entire southeast see these as favoritism, selective justice, and political expediency undermining Nigeria’s unity and rule of law.
“The atrocities perpetrated by these bandits, particularly under Garwa’s command, dwarf any actions attributed to Kanu or Igboho, rendering their continued persecution not just disproportionate but hypocritical.
“Garwa’s gang has been directly linked to the massacre of 34 worshippers in Katsina state, relentless kidnappings across Katsina, Zamfara, and neighboring states, and coordinated raids that have left communities in Faskari and beyond in perpetual fear.”
Citing data from the first half of 2025, Onoh noted that bandits and insurgents were responsible for the deaths of at least 2,266 Nigerians, surpassing the total figure for 2024. He added that from July 2024 to June 2025, nearly 5,000 people were abducted, with over ₦2.57 billion paid in ransoms, displacing millions and destroying hundreds of communities.
“In the Amnesty International’s investigations since 2020 documented over 294 killings and 306 abductions in Katsina, with daily assaults in Zamfara claiming 273 lives and 467 kidnappings in the last two years,” he added.
Onoh accused the government of negotiating with terrorist gangs who continue to commit atrocities including sexual violence, child abductions, and resource pillaging.
“These terrorist gangs the government went into negotiation were imposing blockades, rape women and girls, pillage resources, and control gold mines to arm themselves with over 60,000 illegal weapons circulating in the Northwest. Their violence marked by sexual atrocities, child abductions, and the sacking of entire communities has created ‘captive populations’ in ungoverned spaces, where civilians live under de facto bandit rule.
“I challenge the government or any Nigerian to provide any evidence against Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho of such crime. In essence, the government’s northern pragmatism versus southern repression perpetuates division, rewarding violence in one region while criminalizing dissent in another—a politically incorrect but evident bias rooted in ethnic power dynamics.”
Onoh urged President Tinubu to ensure that justice is applied uniformly across all regions and actors.
“True equity demands uniform application to negotiate with all or prosecute all,” he said, asserting that neither Kanu nor Igboho had committed crimes that warranted their current treatment.
He also stressed the need to separate the violent activities of the Simon Ekpa-led Eastern Security Network (ESN) from IPOB, saying, “They have no connection.”
“Nnamdi Kanu was arrested renditioned back from Kenya in June 18, 2021. Has spent nearly 10 years in detention—equivalent to a full prison term under our laws—without conviction, enduring solitary confinement in DSS custody that has severely deteriorated his health, prompting urgent court pleas for transfer to the National Hospital in Abuja.
“Similarly, Igboho, arrested on July 19, 2021, in Benin Republic and released after nearly a year in custody, returned to Nigeria on July 22, 2025, only to face lingering arrest warrants despite a court awarding him ₦20 billion in damages for the unlawful 2021 DSS raid on his Ibadan residence which killed two aides and detained 13 others.
“His efforts to evict criminal herders from Oyo farmlands were defensive responses to insecurity, not offensive terrorism; he has committed no crime warranting his name on the wanted list, which bars him from using his passport or accessing his accounts.”
Onoh contrasted the fate of Kanu and Igboho with recent concessions made to Garwa, whom he described as being “feted with peace pacts” for releasing just 28 captives, while evading justice for hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths.
“Mr President, while bandits like Garwa are feted with peace pacts—releasing a mere 28 captives in Faskari as a gesture while evading justice for thousands slaughtered—Kanu has already served the equivalent of an 8-year sentence (from his 2015 arrest to now, minus a brief 2017-2018 bail), and Igboho has endured exile and trauma for over four years.
“Statistics bear this out: Between 2013 and 2022, banditry claimed 8,300 lives and 9,527 kidnappings in the Northwest alone, per conservative estimates from the Center for Democracy and Development and UNIDIR. In the same period, no comparable fatalities are attributable to IPOB or Igboho’s activism; their offenses pale against the 143,000 violent deaths nationwide since 2006, predominantly from banditry, insurgency, and communal clashes.”
He urged President Tinubu to use his office to reverse what he described as a cycle of “selective impunity.”
“Releasing Kanu and dropping charges against Igboho would signal that Nigeria values equity over expediency, dialogue over detention, and true security over selective impunity. It would heal sectional wounds, deter actual terrorists, and affirm that no Nigerian is above the law—nor beneath its protection. I urge you, in the spirit of Renewed Hope, to act decisively: Direct the Attorney General to withdraw all charges, quash warrants, and facilitate Kanu’s medical release. Let this be the turning point where justice unites us, not divides.”
He concluded with a direct message to President Tinubu, questioning the moral grounds for a second-term campaign while such injustices persist.
“I have been the loudest voice in promotion and defence of your administration, but I cannot in good conscience promote or ask my region to support your second term election when a bandit kingpin with a bloody record of slaughtering civilians and soldiers walks free after releasing hostages, while our southern agitators Nnamdi Kanu whose group denies violence rot in DSS holding facility and Sunday Igboho still declared wanted. Your administration cannot prosecute a prisoner of conscience while embracing terrorists. Nigeria expects no less.”
