Releasing Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), will be tantamount to rewarding criminality, Niger Delta leader, Asari Dokubo, has said.

Kanu, who is standing trial for terrorism, has been in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in 2021.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had granted him bail in 2017 but he flouted the bail conditions and subsequently fled the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari had resisted the pressure to release Kanu, but with the entry of a new government, fresh calls are being made for the IPOB leader’s release.

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State had discussed the issue of Kanu when he met with President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking with reporters after meeting President Bola Tinubu, Dokubo said Kalu should be made to face the law.

“His release would fuel impunity; during EndSars, Nnamdi Kanu was walking free. What did he do? He poured petrol on the flames of EndSars. Now, he has been caught. What of the people who have died? This is a criminal. He should face the law.

“Releasing Nnamdi Kanu is rewarding criminality and rewarding gruesome murder of innocent people. He should face the law for the actions and instigations he has carried out,” he said.

Dokubo said Nigeria is currently going through a full-scale war in different parts of the country, adding that he had continued to render mercenary services to the Federal Government to keep all parts of the country safe for citizens to be able to travel and go about their businesses safely

“On security, I want to clearly say that there are full-scale wars going on in different parts of this country. In the Southeast, the IPOB/ESN is waging war against the government of this country and many local governments, many communities are deserted, schools are closed and hospitals are closed.

“In the same vein, in Niger, in Zamfara, in Plateau, in Kaduna, in Yobe, in Borno, we’re only talking about Boko Haram. Boko Haram is just a tip of the iceberg, there’s a full-scale war going on and the blackmail of the Nigerian state by the Nigerian military is shameful. They said they do not have enough armament and people listen to this false narrative. They are lying. They are liars, I repeat they are liars because I’m a participant.

“I am a participant in this war, I fight on the side the government of the Nigerian state; in Plateau, in Niger, in Anambra, in Imo, in Abia and in Rivers state and in Abuja. Today you’re travelling to Kaduna on this road, it’s not the army that makes it possible for you to travel to Abuja, or travel to Kaduna, vice versa. It is my men, employed by the government of the Nigerian state, stationed in Niger.

“Today you travel to Baga, you go to Shiroro, you go to Wase. We have lost so many men and we do not use, in all these engagements, we don’t even have 1% of the armament deployed by the Nigerian military. 1% and we have had resounding success. So this blackmail must end, they have enough resources to fight. Instead of fighting, they are busy stealing, they are busy making the government to spend unnecessarily,” he said. (Daily Trust)

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