The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), the apex sociopolitical youth group in the South East geopolitical zone, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to unconditionally release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from DSS custody, just as Sunday Adeyemo, better known as Sunday Igboho, who is agitating for Yoruba nation sovereignty, was released from detention by Beninese authorities.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Owerri by the President General of COSEYL, Comrade Goodluck Ibem, the body stated that they are aware that the Federal Government played a significant role in securing the release of Sunday Igboho from detention in the Benin Republic.

He said, “It amounts to selective justice for the federal government to facilitate and secure the release of Sunday Igboho from detention while leaving Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who is an agitator, in custody.”

According to them, agitation is not a crime under the law; instead, it is the right of any citizen who feels shortchanged or aggrieved to agitate for his or her rights.

He said, “We are very surprised that the Federal Government, saddled with the responsibility of protecting and providing security for Nigerians, knows the right thing to do to restore security in the South East zone, which is to unconditionally release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from DSS custody as ordered by the Federal Court of Appeal, and yet refuses to do it. This amounts to double standards.”

The President General attributed the cause of insecurity in the South East geopolitical zone to the unlawful incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu and the marginalisation of the people of the South East in the scheme of things.

According to him, the federal government’s marginalisation, maltreatment, and unprovoked attacks on Igbos are the major reasons for the call for a referendum by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

He said, “People do not just start agitating for agitation’s sake. Something serious must have led to the agitation.”

The youth body called on President Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the same way the Federal Government facilitated the release of President Tinubu’s brother and tribesman, Sunday Igboho, from Beninese authorities.

He said, “What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. The people of the South East are earnestly waiting to receive their son, Nnamdi Kanu, in their arms.”

They described the release of Kanu as paramount to the restoration of peace and security, which has eluded the South East Zone for many years. (Nigerian Tribune)