By Johnson Nwankwo
Senators from the South-East region of Nigeria, Wednesday, 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), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu is being held at the custody of the State Security Services, and charged with terrorism. He has been in detention since 2021 when he was renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria.
It was gathered that the meeting between the senators and AGF held behind closed doors. The senators, numbering 15, were led by former Abia State Deputy Governor, Sen Enyinnaya Abaribe.
The lawmakers said unless Kanu was released, social and economic activities in the South East region would continue to stagnate.
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 concerns that the peaceful demand of Kanu had been hijacked by hoodlums and criminals, leading to the wanton killings of innocent people, including security operatives.
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 was 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 had unanimously agreed that Kanu be released for peace to return to the region.
