S/E Senators beg Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu for peace to reign in region

Senators from the South East (S/E) Region of Nigeria have pleaded with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to facilitate the release of the detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

The lawmakers numbering 15 made the plea when they met the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) on Wednesday during a closed door meeting and requested him to let Tinubu understand that his release would restore peace to the region.

They added that with his position as the Attorney-General of the Federation, he had the power to ensure prompt completion of cases and that litigations didn’t linger.

The law makers who were led by former Abia State Deputy Governor, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, pointed out that unless Kanu was released, the social and economic activities in the South East region would be at stake and the insecurity in the region would continue.

While addressing Judiciary correspondents immediately after the parley, Abaribe who spoke on behalf of his colleagues lamented that the economy and social life in the South East had suffered so much due to the continued incarceration of the Biafra nation agitator.

Abaribe also expressed worries that the peaceful demand of the detained IPOB leader had been hijacked by hoodlums who have embarked on wanton killings of innocent people, including security operatives.

He also disclosed that he had already met with Kanu at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja on Monday and that he had agreed to abide by any conditions that might be given for his release.

Senator Abaribe expressed hope that Kanu if Kano was released, the tension in the South East region since 2021 when he was clamped into DSS custody would come to an end.

The Senators therefore pleaded with the AGF to convey their message to the president to terminate all charges brought against the IPOB leader by the federal government.

Abaribe said that virtually all political leaders, religious leaders and stakeholders had unanimously agreed that Kanu should be released for peace to return to the region.

Recall that Kanu was re-arrested in Kenya in 2021 by the Federal Government and brought to Nigeria for trial on terrorism charges.

Although he pleaded not guilty to the charges, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja declined to admit him to bail on the premise that he jumped the earlier bail in which Senator Abaribe was his surety.

Kanu has since been in the custody of the DSS on the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja.