The President-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has asked President Bola Tinubu to use his constitutional power to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Iwuanyanwu, who made the call during an interview on Sunday, said that Igbos who are the dominant people in the South-East region of the country had accepted Tinubu as their president.
According to Iwuanyanwu on Arise TV News, the release of Kanu would help security operatives to differentiate between those fighting for the IPOB leader’s freedom and criminals operating under the guise of protests for his release in the South-East.
On several calls being made for Kanu’s release from the custody of the Department of State Service, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General said, “I, as a leader of Igbos, after consultation with my people, we all agree that there was no reason why Nnamdi Kanu should be incarcerated, no reason why he should be detained.
“He didn’t serve any risk. Rather, his release will help Nigeria, will help the security agencies to differentiate who is a criminal and who is a very honest and dedicated Nigerian. Because many criminals hide under the fact that Nnamdi Kanu is in detention and continue to unleash heinous crimes on our people in the South-East.
“As you have already noticed, some people stay outside Nigeria and from time to time, mobilise armed robbers, armed gunmen, even declare sit at home. And of course, you know our people are mercantile people, people who are commercial.
“Most of the people live from day to day, from hand to mouth. And when these people are restrained from getting out to do their business, they suffer a lot of hardship. So, we believe that if Nnamdi Kanu is released, it will make the job of security very easy. All of us cannot be saying that he should be released without a just cause.”
Speaking further, Iwuanyanwu said that “The whole of our people, the political class, the religious class, all of them. And as a leader of Igbos, part of my mandate is to see that Nnamdi Kanu is released. And I have made the appeal to the President.
“I have even sought an appointment to meet the president with some leaders of the South-East, and the president has been very busy.
“I believe that once he’s free, he will invite us, because he has been busy attending to so many national and international matters. He will see us because, no doubt, South-East, the Igbos, we are part of Nigeria, we are committed to Nigeria, we believe in Nigeria, we have, over the years, made contributions to the building of Nigeria. So, if we cry to our leader, the president, to say this is our problem, I believe he will definitely listen to us.”
According to him, “Igbos in all the various states in Nigeria have now accepted Tinubu as our president, and we have pledged, and I say that on behalf of our people, that we are going to give Tinubu every support.
“But we expect Tinubu to look at this problem we have. We expect him to solve this problem which all of us are talking about.”