The Ohanaeze, through its president-general, said the release of Mr Kanu does not constitute any threat to Nigeria's democracy or social cohesion given that a court had ordered his release.
The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has again asked President Bola Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
IPOB, a group seeking to carve out a sovereign state of Biafra from the South-east and some parts of the South-South of Nigeria, has been linked to some deadly attacks in the two regions.
Mr Iwuanyanwu in a statement he personally signed and forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday night stressed that the release of Mr Kanu does not constitute any threat to Nigeria's democracy or social cohesion given that a court had ordered his release.
''I hereby make a passionate appeal to our President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to assist to procure the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. This will be a highly prized Christmas gift to all Igbos of Nigeria and all other Nigerians who are committed to a peaceful and secure country,'' he said.
''The incarceration of Kanu has created an unnecessary excuse for terrorism in a region which has hitherto lived in peace and pursued their occupation wherever they are with patriotic zeal,'' Mr Iwuanyanwu added.
The Ohanaeze leader recalled that he brought up the matter during a joint meeting of the South-south, South-west, South-east and Middle Belt of Nigeria where they ''unanimously endorsed that Mr Kanu should be released.''
He recollected how many Igbos were impoverished after the infamous Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970 which claimed the lives of many Nigerians, and warned that everyone should avoid anything that could once again make the region ''a theatre of war.''
''I further advocate that in addition to the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the Federal government should adopt a non-kinetic approach to the security problem in the South-east.
''I, in collaboration with the governors and other leaders in the South-east of Nigeria, call for amnesty to those who at the moment are expressing all forms of agitation in the South-east; and that they will be given the opportunity to earn a dignified livelihood,'' Mr Iwuanyanwu stated.
Background
Mr Kanu was first arrested in 2015 under the administration of former Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari.
The IPOB leader was later granted bail in April 2017. He fled the country after an invasion of his home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State, by the Nigerian military in September of that year.
He was re-arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June 2021, about four years after he fled the country.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on 13 October 2022, held that the IPOB leader was extra-ordinarily renditioned to Nigeria and that the action was a flagrant violation of the country's extradition treaty and also a breach of his fundamental human rights.
The court, therefore, struck out the terrorism charges filed against Mr Kanu by the Nigerian government and ordered his release from the SSS facility.
But the government refused to release the IPOB leader insisting that he (Kanu) could be unavailable in subsequent court proceedings if released and that his release would cause insecurity in the South-east, where he comes from.
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The government, through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, later appealed the court ruling and subsequently obtained an order staying the execution of the court judgement at the Supreme Court.
Mr Kanu, on 3 November 2022, through one of his lawyers, Mike Ozekhome, filed an appeal against the stay of execution order at the Supreme Court.
The court, in October, fixed 15 December for delivering of judgement on the appeal.
Mr Iwuanyanwu has repeatedly asked for the release of the IPOB leader without success.
Like the Ohanaeze leader, several concerned groups and other Igbo leaders such as Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State and his Enugu State counterpart, Peter Mbah had separately asked the federal government to release the IPOB leader, but their requests were ignored.
