Senators from the South-East region of the country have met with the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to demand the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The South-East senators met with the AGF behind closed doors in Abuja on Wednesday, July 3, 2024.
The senators numbering 15 were led by former Abia State Deputy Governor Enyinnaya Abaribe.
The lawmakers said unless Kanu is released, social and economic activities in the South-East region will continue to be stagnant.
The senators handed over their letter of appeal for Kanu’s release to Fagbemi for onward passage to President Bola Tinubu.
Abaribe, who spoke to journalists on behalf of his colleagues, lamented that the economy and social life in the South-East had suffered enough due to the continued incarceration of the Biafra nation agitator.
He noted with grave concern that the peaceful demand of Kanu had been hijacked by hoodlums and criminals leading to wanton killings of innocent people, including security operatives.
South-East governors to meet Tinubu for Nnamdi Kanu’s release
Abaribe said he had already met with Kanu at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS), adding that the IPOB leader had agreed to abide by any conditional release.
The lawmaker expressed optimism that once Kanu is released, the tension and acrimonies engulfing the South-East region since 2021 when he was clamped into DSS custody would become an event of the past.
The South-East senators, therefore, pleaded with Fagbemi to convey their message to Tinubu and for the AGF to use his position to terminate all charges brought against the IPOB leader by the federal government.
They said 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 had earlier jumped bail in which Abaribe was his surety.
Kanu has been in the custody of the DSS on the order of the Federal High Court.
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