Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has announced that President Bola Tinubu will release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Kanu, who has been in the DSS custody since 2021, is being tried for alleged treason.
Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who spoke at the 13th memorial anniversary of the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in Owerri on Tuesday, emphasized that President Tinubu recognize the significance of Kanu’s release, which would help unveil criminal elements exploiting IPOB to instigate chaos in the South East region.
“President Tinubu understands the importance of Kanu’s release. It will expose the masqueraders behind the violence and help restore order. I will do whatever it takes to ensure His Excellency grants this request.
“The release of Nnamdi Kanu is essential to distinguishing genuine freedom fighters from criminals causing mayhem in the South East,” Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu stated.
The wife of the late Biafran leader added: “In the olden days, we had Igbo unions in places like Kano, Lagos and Kaduna, among others, where people discussed matters affecting them and why they must unite.
“Today, we are celebrating Ojukwu, our uncommon man, a man who stood for peace and equality for every person.
“There are so many killings, unrest and kidnappings going on today in the region, which is not how it used to be.”
She regretted that many people from the region could not go home again to bury their dead or give their children out to marriage due to the spate of unrest and insecurity, urging those perpetrating the evil acts to desist from it and embrace peace.
The former Beauty Queen pointed out that some of the perpetrators were from the region and urged them to allow peace to reign.
Condemning the act of killing people in the region “in the name of sit-at-home directive from non-state actors,” she said that such was not what her husband stood for.
“Many people from the South-East have left the region for other cities like Lagos and other places, due to the spate of insecurity in the area.
“I was sad when an Igbo person in U. S. told me that they are making donations in America to buy burial ground to bury their dead relations as insecurity in the region doesn’t allow them to do that at home come home,” she fumed..
Organiser of the event and leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Raph Uwazuruike, also called on the Federal Government to release Kanu, stating that it would help the region to experience peace again.
He said that the memorial service was to commemorate Ikemba’s legacies, adding that “all the good things he stood for will not be forgotten.”
The Guest Speaker at the event, Professor Protus Uzorma, said that the late Igbo leader “solidified the Igboland and made it to be a peaceful place until his death.”
Uzorma called on all Igbo to unite, adding that with peace in the region development would be assured, describing the evil currently happening in the region as a new phenomenon which was not part of the things the Igbo were known for.
He said that Igbo people were peaceful, loving, enterprising and assisting one another before the killings, unrest and kidnappings erupted in the region.
He urged those behind the ugly situation to stop forthwith in order for peace to reign.
Securing Nigeria For The Elections, Daily Trust Editorial of Tuesday January 31, 2023