A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Thursday, urged President Bola Tinubu to fulfill his campaign promise of holding dialogue with agitators, including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a way of restoring lasting peace in the country, especially in the South-East geopolitical zone.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, urged President Tinubu not to follow the path of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who refused to free detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, despite an Appeal Court judgement granting freedom to Kanu.

The group asked Tinubu to prove to Nigerians that he is a democrat by respecting the rule of law and the dispensation of justice. HURIWA also implored the President to respect the sanctity of his promise made on November 24, 2022 during the presidential campaign of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

During that campaign, Tinubu said if voted into power, his administration would negotiate with agitators, including IPOB. The then Presidential Candidate of the APC, said, “We want peace, we will talk to all the agitators, this thing is not done by conflicts.”

HURIWA is insisting that Tinubu fulfills his promise.

“President Bola Tinubu must fulfill his election promise by entering into constructive dialogue that will lead to the immediate release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from the illegal detention of the Department of State Services (DSS).

“Tinubu should respect the sanctity of his campaign promise and release Nnamdi Kanu to save South East from the ongoing troubles. The President should not toe the path of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who stoked the fire of violence in the South East since the unlawful arrest and detention of Kanu by mid-2021.

“It is important to state that an Appeal Court sitting in Abuja already freed Kanu with no charges standing against him. President Tinubu should prove that he is a democrat and a respecter of the rule of law by freeing Kanu as ruled by the court,” HURIWA stated.