His Royal Majesty, Eze Israel Kanu, father of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu and paramount ruler of Afaraukwu in Umuahia Ibeku, Abia State, has expressed gratitutde to God for making his son to regain his freedom. Eze Kanu, who was reacting to this morning’s Abuja Federal High Court order to the Department of State Service (DSS) to release his son, thanked the judiciary and President Muhammadu Buhari. He, however, advised Buhari to allow Igbos to exit Nigeria as an independent State of Biafra.

Eze Kanu, who spoke in an interview with newsmen in Umuahia, said the release of his son has gladdenend his heart and commeneded all who stood by the family during their period of trial.

“My family and the entire people of Afaraukwu are happy and grateful for my son’s release,” the monarch said, adding that by ordering Kanu’s release, the judiciary has proved that it was truly the last hope of the common man.

“I thank Nigerians, the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Independent People of Indigenous Biafra (IPOB) and all the pro-Biafran groups and protesters who stood behind my son while his dentention lasted,” he said and lauded the Federal Government for allowing his son to be released from captivity.

According to the royal father, his son’s release has portrayed President Buhari as humane and kind but he urged the Nigerian leader to “let Igbos exist,” by granting them an independent State of Biafra.

He urged IPOB, MASSOB and all pro-Biafra activists to be calm and remain law-abiding without being confrontational in their pursuit of the Biafran project.

Reports from Aba said that the commercial city errupted in a fenzy of celebrations immediately the news of Kanu’s release from detention hit the city.

An Aba-based shoemaker who gave his name as Nnamdi told News Express on phone that IPOB and MASSOB members in Aba were jubilating over the release of their idol.

Spokesman of IPOB, Mr. Emma Powerful, said Biafra’s independence “is non-negotiable,” vowing that IPOB and other pro-Biafra groups would sustain the struggle until Biafra was realised.

Mr. Powerful declared in a telephone interview that “no force can stop the agitation for Biafra because it is a mass movement supported by the oppressed people of Biafra who are tired of enslavement in Nigeria.”

He said that the issue of Biafra has gone beyond Nigerian authorities, adding that by 2016 the United Nations is expected to conduct a referendum on the final secession of Biafra from “oppressive Nigeria.”

The youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in its reaction, commended President Buhari for heeding the pleas of Ndigbo and other progressive Nigerians in releasing the detained Director of Radio Biafra.

National President of Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, and Secretary, Nnabuike Okwu, in a press statement issued moments ago in Umuahia said the release of Kanu would go a long way in dousing the tension in the polity.

According to the statement, Kanu’s release from detention will also restore the confidence of Ndigbo in Buhari’s administration and end the wave of protests by agitators for an Independent Biafra which had spread to most cities in the defunct Eastern Region.

OYC, therefore, appealed to all pro-Biafra groups to reciprocate the Federal Government’s gesture by discontinuing with further protests for peace peace to reing in the South East geo-political zone.

The group also restated its commitment in brokering peace between the federal government and the MASSOB and IPOB “to address their grievances.”

The council urged Ndigbo to remain calm as efforts were being intensified to “have the Federal Government address various injustices against Ndigbo which are responsible for the renewed agitations for Biafra.

“Kanu’s arrest was not the only reason for protests by MASSOB and IPOB. There are other fundamental issues which must be addressed to finally heal the wounds of Ndigbo such as the poor state of federal roads in the South East, abandonment of the Enugu coal mine for over 43 years, non-inclusion of Abia and Imo youths in the Niger Delta Amnesty deal,” among others.

•Photo shows Nnamdi Kanu's father, Eze Israel Kanu, Egwu Ukwu II of Afara Ukwu..

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