We urge President Bola Tinubu to favourably consider the calls from various quarters for the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, without further delay. In recent weeks, the clamour for Kanu’s freedom has come from several sources.

Ijaw leader and Chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, advocated for the re-mainstreaming of the Igbo nation in Nigerian affairs 54 years after the Civil War, and the release of Nnamdi Kanu. Also, the Association of Niger Delta Upland Communities, ANDUC, recently lent their voice, though we disagree with the tone of “ultimatum” their message carried. The situation before us calls for a brotherly resolution.

Over the weekend, the House of Representatives Member representing Ideato Federal Constituency (PDP, Imo State), Ikenga Ugochinyere, sent a letter to media houses indicating that between 44 and 50 members from across the three major political parties – All Progressives Congress, APC; Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; and Labour Party, LP, signed a document calling for Nnamdi Kanu’s freedom.

They want the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to invoke his powers under Section 174 of the Constitution, to get Nnamdi Kanu released and charges against him dropped. A similar gesture has already been extended to Chief Sunday Igboho and Omoyele Sowore, who were facing treason charges.

Former President, Muhammadu Buhari, had insisted that only the Judiciary could decide Kanu’s fate. Since his extraordinary rendition from Kenya in July 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Binta Murtala Nyako, had on April 8, 2022, cleared eight of Nnamdi Kanu’s 15 charges. The court of Appeal later on October 14, 2022, dropped all charges against him and ordered his discharge.

But the Federal Government pressed on to the Supreme Court which ordered a restart of the treason trial. He remains in the custody of the Directorate of State Service, DSS.

Also, on July 22, 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, had called for Kanu’s “immediate and unconditional” release, arguing that his extraordinary rendition from Kenya was illegal under international law.

Kanu is increasingly looking like a prisoner of conscience and victim of judicial persecution, even to the international community. His continued detention is also chiefly responsible for the unrest in the South-East, a region that used to be one of the most peaceful in the country.

With Kanu’s offer to negotiate, we call on the Federal Government to take up this offer. He must, however, renounce violence and commit to the rule of law. He must avoid a situation where the law will bring him back into the dock.

Nigeria must also heed Chief Clark’s advice and make sure that henceforth, we “build a nation where no man is oppressed”.

Update news