Justice For Kanu Gains Momentum As Hon. Umeha, Other Concerned Citizens Join Campaigns
AHEAD of the Supreme Court ruling, the calls for the immediate release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB from the custody of the Department of State Service DSS has intensified following the lingering unrest in the South East region of Nigeria.
Several concerned citizens from the zone including the governors and Ohaneze Ndigbo among others have thrown weight behind the campaign for Kanu’s freedom by deploying every available means including meeting with the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu.
It’s in line with the common belief that the instability in the Southeast region would grow wings and fly away upon Kanu’s release that Hon. Sunday Cyriacus Umeha, member representing Ezeagu/Udi Federal Constituency in the federal House of Representatives stepped forward to plead for the release of Kanu from detention.
Recall that Kanu has been in the detention of the State Security Service, DSS, since May 2021. Despite various appeals and even court judgments in favour of his release, the government has remained recalcitrant.
Speaking to legislatorvoice Magazine in his National Assembly office, penultimate week, Umeha described Kanu as a “son of Igbo land and a very proud one for that matter.”
Umeha never minced words on the impact of his detention on the lives of the people of South East as he claimed, “Kanu’s detention, no doubt, is part of why what is going on in the South East is going on.”
He said, “The unanimous agitation for his release is a pointer to the belief that the people are united in a common understanding that the release of Kanu is the solution to the challenges of insecurity in the zone.”
Umeha said that he is not alone in the call for the release of Kanu. According to him, “I and my colleagues and other political office holders from the South East have been advocating for a political solution and we have also spoken out in unison,” he asserted.
“At the floor of the House,” Umeha maintained, “the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu, through a motion from one of us, pleaded that the President of Nigeria should look into the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. If not for anything, he said, free him so that the Igbos can feel belonged and the agitation in South East, can as well, calm down.”
Stating further, Umeha insists, “I am one of the people who that if Nnamdi Kanu is freed, it will go a long way to reduce the menace of banditry and criminal activities in the South East.”
Umeha explained that he is advocating Kanu’s release as a solution because, according to him, “people now, under the guise of fighting for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, are perpetuating one form of crime or the other, giving the agitations for Kanu release as an excuse.”
But if Nnamdi Kanu is released, Umeha insists, “nobody can come out to say he’s fighting or doing this and it will become an outright crime for anyone to constitute nuisance in the public using Kanu as a cover,” he said.
In addition to the collective actions by the lawmakers in the 10th Assembly, Umeha reiterates saying, “I am also appealing to Mr. President to reconsider these issues and see to how best a dialogue can be reached on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release,” he submitted.
Credit: Agbaja TV