Ndigbo Unity Forum ( NUF) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to jettison his latest hard stance about the Leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and grant him unconditional release.
In a statement in Abakiliki, Ebonyi State weekend, the Igbo group expressed sadness over President Buhari’s comment that Kanu’s fate would be decided by the Court, not through political solution.
Hybrid News recalls that President Buhari during an interview with Channels Television had bluntly said that the IPOB leader would face his charges at the law Court.
Kanu who was kidnapped from Kenya has been detained in DSS facilities for months which has forced IPOB members to declare Sit-at-home intermittently in the South East Region especially on Mondays and anytime he is attending Court session.
Consequently, some Igbo leaders led by First Republic Aviation Minister, Mbazulike Amechi, paid a visit to the president appealing to him to grant Kanu unconditional release.
The president who said it was a difficult request however remarked that he would look into it but when the question was thrown to him during the Channel Television interview, President Buhari reversed on his earlier assertion and said that Kanu’s fate would be now determined by the Court.
The Forum in the statement signed by its President Dede Uzor A, Uzor, said that the unguarded response by Buhari was an insult to Ndigbo and their leaders but warned that it would worsen the security and economic situations in the South East and South regions.
The group called on the president to in the spirit of the new year have a change of heart and release Kanu unconditionally.
They said his release would not only serve as a new year gift to Ndigbo but bring lasting peace to the region that has been shattered by insecurity.
The group warned that further incarceration of the IPOB leader will worsen the economy of the South East and South South regions which has been grossly affected as a result of ongoing fragile security in the regions due to continued detention of Kanu.
They urged the President to as a father of the nation grant Kanu unconditional release.
Meanwhile, the group has warned that on no account should Federal Government contemplate deploying the recently acquired Tocuno War Plane in South East and the entire Southern regions of the country.
Ndigbo group called on the Government of United States of America (USA) to closely monitor the Federal Government of Nigeria on how it will use the sophisticated war aircraft to avoid trampling on the people’s fundamental and inalienable rights in this parts of the country, NUF cautioned.