‘I’ll do whatever it takes for Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu,’ Bianca Ojukwu

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, has promised to ensure that President Bola Tinubu releases Nnamdi Kanu from detention.

Mrs Ojukwu, wife of the late Biafra warlord, Odumegwu Ojukwu, disclosed this at the 13th memorial anniversary of her husband in Owerri on Tuesday, Vanguard newspaper reported.

Mr Kanu, who is facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The IPOB leader has been in detention since he was repatriated to Nigeria from Kenya in 2021.

‘Tinubu will release Nnamdi Kanu’

Mrs Ojukwu, while speaking at the event, expressed confidence that President Tinubu will release the IPOB leader.

The minister said she believes the president understands the importance of Mr Kanu’s release.

“President Tinubu understands the importance of Kanu’s release. It will expose the masqueraders behind the violence and help restore order. I will do whatever it takes to ensure His Excellency (Tinubu) grants this request,” she stated.

She argued that freeing the IPOB leader would expose criminals who have used his detention as a cover to carry out criminality in the South-east.

“The release of Nnamdi Kanu is paramount to separating genuine freedom fighters from criminals causing mayhem in the South-east. Our people face existential threats, and we must act to restore peace,” she said.

Ending violence in the South-east

Delivering her remarks on the theme “Unifying the Igbo Race,” Mrs Ojukwu called for an end to the violence in the South-east.

The minister stressed that the Igbo people are not known for harming their own and argued that there was a need for collective action to reclaim the region from criminality and insecurity.

She lamented that, years after the death of her husband, a revered Igbo leader, the South-east has become a hotbed of violence and insecurity.

“Communities are empty. Our illustrious sons and daughters have fled. Kidnappers now abduct their brothers for ransom. This is not what Dim Ojukwu fought for,” she said.

‘Sit-at-home contradicts Igbo ideals’

Mrs Ojukwu also criticised those who impose violent sit-at-home in the South-east.

She said the illegal order contradicts the ideals of self-determination and has stifled economic activities in Igbo land.

“Ndigbo are enterprising and their brother’s keepers. We must reclaim our land and continue to propagate the ideals for which Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu stood,” she stated.

Background

Mr Kanu was first arrested in 2015 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, held on 13 October 2022 that the IPOB leader was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria. The court added that the action was a flagrant violation of the country’s extradition treaty and 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.

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.

Delivering judgement on the appeal on 15 December 2023, the Supreme Court reversed the acquittal granted to Mr Kanu by the lower court and consequently ordered the continuation of his trial at the Federal High Court Abuja.

Meanwhile, several Igbo leaders, including governors in the South-east and the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo, have separately appealed to successive Nigerian governments to release Mr Kanu.

However, the Nigerian government ignored their requests.