The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has said efforts are ongoing to secure the release of the leader of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, Mr Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu has been in detention at the Department of State Services since 2021 following his arrest in Kenya and repatriation to Nigeria.
The Supreme Court, on December 15, okayed his trial on the charges of terrorism filed against him by the Federal Government.
His trouble began in 2015 when the Federal Government arrested him and arraigned him alongside four others on 11 counts bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society, publication of defamatory matter, illegal possession of firearms and improper importation of goods, among others.
A few months after he was granted bail on health grounds, Kanu fled Nigeria in September 2017, after the military invaded his family’s home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State.
He was on the run until 2021 when he was arrested in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria.
There have been calls, especially by the Ohanaeze Indigbo, for a political solution to the issue.
Speaking virtually on the “South East political Roundtable,” a current affairs radio programme on FLO FM in Umuahia on Tuesday, Kalu said that talks were ongoing to free Kanu.
A statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu on Tuesday, quoted Kalu as advising South-East youths to stop forthwith the sit-at-home directive of IPOB, noting that it was scaring many investors away from the region.
Kalu, who also spoke on the gains of the recently unveiled Peace In South-East Project in the Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, asked those carrying arms to lay down their weapons and join in the non-kinetic approach being canvassed by the initiative to end the security challenges and other agitations of the people.
He said, “We can’t put all our programmes and plans on social media. He (Kanu) is my brother. Is he in the mix of what we are trying to do? Yes! It’s one of our agendas to ensure he’s released. Who wants their brother to be in jail?
“We are working underground. There’s a detailed strategy. It’s not by violence, you can’t coerce the government through violence. It has never worked and won’t work. Let’s be wiser. The wisdom is in peace. Let’s quench the violence.
“If it’s chaotic, it won’t work. Let’s cool down. Let the man see that you’ve recognised he didn’t contribute to locking him up and that he has not done anything to the South-East. We should support him and his government and not attack him. I’m standing firmly against the voice of violence, preaching peace. That is what I’m here for, this voice of peace will echo through the Villa and he will come out. Mr President was happy with what happened in Bende. That the whole country can gather together and support this project.”
He called for an end to the Monday sit-at-home being called by IPOB.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!