Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, has told the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to free the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement on Sunday, challenged the President to be a man of his words by leaving the judiciary to decide on Kanu’s fate without any political interference or vendetta.
The group asked Buhari to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to comply with the Appellate Court’s judgment freeing Kanu for the Department of State Services to release the IPOB leader before Christmas.
They noted that the major presidential candidates for the 2023 general elections including Labour Party’s Peter Obi, Bola Tinubu of the All-Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, had all opined that they will explore dialogue to end secessionist agitations in the South-East and restore the economy of the Igbo people.
Onwubiko, therefore, called on the President, to free Kanu, as part of ways to make amends, and as a Christmas gift, and a parting gift to Nigerians and generations unborn. He added that at a meeting with Ebonyi State Stakeholders’ Forum held at the Government House in Abakaliki in May, Buhari had said a political solution to Kanu’s travails was impossible and insisted that only the court will decide his fate, noting that 18 months after his arrest, the administration had failed to free Kanu, despite the decision of the Appeal Court.
Part of the statement reads “As though a norm, all the major presidential candidates for the 2023 presidential election have adopted negotiated settlement to end agitations by IPOB and other secessionist groups like that of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho.
“This is a clear signal to President Muhammadu Buhari that he has got it all wrong seven years ago since he opted for only military methodology and extraordinary rendition of Nnamdi Kanu and lastly refusal to comply with Appeal court’s decision freeing Nnamdi Kanu. The President should honour his words and order Malami to heed the Appeal Court’s verdict for Kanu’s release. Anything aside from this shows that Buhari and his regime have no respect for the rule of law, and this is not surprising based on his antecedent as a military general.
This is the most auspicious time for Buhari to make amends and release Nnamdi Kanu immediately, as his Christmas gift and one of his government’s major parting gifts to Nigerians and generations unborn because of the potential that the release of Nnamdi will restore peace and stability to South-East of Nigeria and restore economic growth of the region.”
Credit: Punch