Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, is being worked for his release, according to Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Kanu was arrested in Kenya and returned to Nigeria, according to reports he has been held at the Department of State Services since 2021.
On December 15, the Supreme Court granted the Federal Government’s request for him to stand trial for terrorist charges.
His problems started in 2015 when the federal government detained him and charged him with eleven felonies, including managing an illegal society, treasonous felony, publishing defamatory material, unlawful firearm possession, and improper importation of goods. He was also charged with overseeing an unlawful society.
In September 2017, after the military broke into his family’s house in Afara-Ukwu, close to Umuahia, Abia State, Kanu left Nigeria a few months after being granted bail due to health concerns.
Before being apprehended in Kenya and sent back to Nigeria in 2021, he was a wanted man.
Politicians have called for a solution to the problem, particularly the Ohanaeze Indigbo members.
In an online speech on Tuesday, Kalu stated that negotiations to release Kanu were still in progress during the “South East Political Roundtable,” a current affairs radio programme broadcast on FLO FM in Umuahia.
In a statement released on Tuesday, his Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu, quoted Kalu as telling young people in the South-East to ignore the IPOB’s directive to stay at home, citing concerns that the action was scaring away potential investors.
Speaking about the advantages of the recently launched Peace In South-East Project in the Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, Kalu urged those in possession of weapons to give them up and support the initiative’s non-violent strategy for resolving security issues and other popular unrest.
We are unable to post all of our plans and programmes on social media, he said. I’m brother to him, Kanu. Do we have him involved in our efforts? Sure, Making sure he’s released is one of our goals. What brother would want to be incarcerated?
“We labour below ground. An intricate plan is in place. There is no way to force the government to do anything by using violence. It is not and has never been effective. Let’s acquire more wisdom. The wisdom is at peace. Let’s put a stop to the bloodshed.
“It won’t work if it’s chaotic.” Come on, let’s settle down. Show him that you acknowledge that he had nothing to do with getting him locked up and that the South-East has benefited from his release. Instead of criticising him, we ought to stand by him and his administration. I am adamantly advocating for peace while resisting the voice of aggression. This peaceful voice will reverberate throughout the Villa, and that is my purpose in being here. With the events in Bende, Mr. President was satisfied. that the entire nation will be able to come together and lend support to this endeavour.
He demanded that IPOB cease calling people to sit at home on Mondays.
“How many guns we carry, or how many people we threaten to not go out on Monday, does not constitute our strength,” he declared. This does not represent an Igbo man’s strength. Igbo men do not go to work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays because they are lazy and prefer to spend Saturday, Sunday, and Mondays at home. We don’t operate like that; instead, we put in a lot of effort, rebuild things, and never give up. Even in the face of adversity, we manage to get back up and start the rebuilding process. To our people, I say that.
The South-East was not opposed by President Bola Tinubu, the Deputy Speaker continued.
“An Igbo son who has proven himself in Ebonyi was given the Ministry of Works by Mr. President, who then told him to come and build what he did in Ebonyi throughout all of Nigeria, beginning with the five states in the South-East. The only way we can repay the President is by saying there won’t be any work on Monday.
Take a look at what happened when 15 Igbo billionaires came together in Bende for the first time. This indicates that they are prepared to establish factories that will hire you and bring their industry here. Why do you frighten them off, then? There is too much the government can’t do for you. Our wealthy brothers wish to send their wealth home. While you’re frightening them away, some of them want to do it. How much longer will we mislead our people with fear?
We adore our Igbo homeland, our brother, and Nnamdi Kanu is my brother, so if your outrage is over his release, then I will respond accordingly. You are still my brother even though you are acting irritated, and he is still my brother despite being imprisoned. I am asserting, however, that there is a more effective way to complete it. One can kill a rat in numerous ways. Instead of demolishing our house, let’s search for other ways to kill this rat.
The speaker urged everyone to unite and promised that once they did, they could ask for anything from the government—including the one they wanted for their brother, which was also within reach.
