The apex socio-political group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has asked the Federal Government to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, as a Christmas gift for the South-East region.
The Vice-President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, stated this on behalf of the group while speaking to our correspondent in an interview on Sunday, adding that anything short of Kanu’s release meant the hope of the people in the South-East had been dashed this Christmas.
The call by Ohanaeze comes ahead of the December 15, 2023, Supreme Court judgment in the Federal Government’s case against Kanu.
Okeke-Ogene dismissed as unfounded claims that prominent Igbo people, including governors of the region, were behind Kanu’s continued detention.
He said, “We don’t want to dwell much on the politics about the release of Kanu. If he is released on December 15, it is long overdue because competent courts of jurisdiction have on two occasions found him not guilty and also released him, but till now, nothing was done about it.
“So, we hope that the Supreme Court will equally do justice to it with the expectation that every Igbo man is expecting that President Bola Tinubu should know that the money and lives being wasted on the issue are not worth it. And he should, therefore, set the man free as a Christmas gift to the South-East if he truly wants peace to return to the region.
“The President should emulate former Presidents Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, who used the carrot and stick approach to stop the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta region. The average Igbo person is also facing the same situation.