Release Nnamdi Kanu for peace to reign in S’East, Senators beg Tinubu

.Say economy, social life in S’East has suffered enough unrest due to continued incarceration of IPOB leader

.Obasanjo denies discussing Kanu`s release with South East governors

BY ANDREW OROLUA

Senators from the South East Region of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja pleaded passionately with President Bola Tinubu to order the release of the detained Biafra Nation agitator, Nnamdi Kanu.

The Senators numbering 15 and led by a former Abia State Deputy Governor, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe claimed that unless Kanu is released, the social and economic activities in the South East region will continue to be stagnant.

The Senators held a closed door meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) where their letter begging Tinubu to release Kanu was delivered for onward passage to the presidency.

Addressing Judiciary Correspondents immediately after the closed door meeting, Abaribe who spoke on behalf of his colleagues lamented that the economy and social life in the South East region had suffered enough unrest due to the continued incarceration of the Biafra nation agitator.

Abaribe noted with grave concern that the peaceful demand of the detained IPOB leader had been hijacked by hoodlums and hardened criminals leading to wanton killings of innocent people, including security operatives.

The former Abia state Deputy Governor told newsmen that he had already met with Kanu at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja on Monday and that Kanu had agreed to abide by any conditional release.

Senator Abaribe expressed optimism that once Kanu is released, the tension and acrimonies that had engulfed the South East region since 2021 when he was clamped into DSS custody would become an event of the past.

The Senators therefore pleaded with the AGF to convey their message to President Tinubu and for the AGF to use his position to terminate all charges brought against the IPOB leader by the federal government.

Besides the Senators, Abaribe said that virtually all political leaders, religious leaders and stakeholders have unanimously agreed that Kanu be released for peace to bounce back to the region.

It would be recalled that Kanu was re-arrested in Kenya in 2021 by the Federal Government and brought to the country for trial on terrorism charges.

Although he pleaded not guilty to the charges, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja declined to admit him to bail on the ground that he jumped the earlier one in which Senator Abaribe was his surety.

Kanu has since been in the custody of the DSS on the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Meanwhile, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has denied discussing the release of Nnamdi Kanu with the South East governors in Enugu on Tuesday.

This is contained in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the former President, Kehinde Akinyemi on Wednesday in Abeokuta.

He said that contrary to media reports, the former President and Chief Emeka Anyaoku met with the governors on their own invitation to discuss regional development issues.

Akinyemi said that the purported release of Kanu by the Federal Government was not part of it.

He said that the regional development issues include security and infrastructure, economic and cooperative collaboration among others.

“The meeting with them was at my invitation and of Anyaoku before their summit began.

“The issue of Nnamdi Kanu was not on the agenda and was not discussed in my presence,” the statement quoted Obasanjo.