Senators from South-East Nigeria have urged President Bola Tinubu to order the release of Nnamdi Kanu, detained leader of the indigenous people of Biafra.
Led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, the lawmakers claimed that unless Kanu is released, the social and economic activities in the South-East region will continue to be stagnant.
The senators met behind closed doors with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and delivered their letter to President Tinubu requesting Kanu’s release for further consideration by the presidency.
Addressing journalists immediately after the meeting, Abaribe who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, lamented that the economy and social life in the region had suffered enough 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 journalists, 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 engulfing the 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 return to the region.
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.
