South East Senators meet AGF, demand release of Nnamdi Kanu
By Emma Ogbuehi
The embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has agreed to abide by any condition the Federal Government would give for his release from detention.
This was disclosed on Wednesday by the Senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, when he led other Senators from the South East region of Nigeria to a meeting with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to demand the release of the detained IPOB leader.
Abaribe, who is also former Senate Minority Leader disclosed that he had already met with Kanu at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Even though the meeting was held in camera, however, Senator Abaribe, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said he was optimistic that the AGF would persuade the Federal Government to heed to the call for Kanu’s release.
He maintained that the continued detention of the IPOB leader was responsible for the rising level of insecurity and agitations in the South East region.
According to him, unless Kanu is released, social and economic activities within the region would remain stagnant.
The meeting between the lawmakers and the AGF came barely one day after all the Governors from the South East region resolved to approach President Bola Tinubu to beg for Kanu’s freedom.
Earlier, about 50 members of the House of Representatives from various parts of the country, urged President Tinubu to free the detained IPOB leader.
The representatives, who identified themselves as “Concerned Federal Lawmakers for Peace and Security in the South East”, prayed President Tinubu to direct the AGF to invoke Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to terminate the terrorism-related charge that is pending against Kanu before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
READ ALSO: Abaribe explains relationship with Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB
Abaribe has always clamoured for the negotiated release of Nnamdi Kanu.
Explaining his relationship with Nnamdi Kanu in an exclusive interview with TheNiche in 2021, the then Senate Minority leader said:
“I was the person that went when Justice Nyako made the condition for his bail to be a Senator of the Federal Republic among the three people. I signed his bail bond. And I saw him as a younger brother that we can sit and reason with. And I actually sat and had discussions with him and I think that his matter was poorly managed by the authorities. Because the authorities just felt that oh, anyone who raises his head, you slam him in jail and when you do that, it will stop whatever.
“If they had approached it in a different way, we probably will not be where we are today with him. And I still think that you can still have a discussion with him and reach reasonable compromises. I still think that is possible. That is why I support those who have been saying that rather than just continuing along the path of the legal tussle, that the option of having a political solution may work.
“I had canvassed this opinion even before he was rendered into Nigeria and I have spoken with high officials of this government on the need for us to have some discussion. But you know, I also warned at that time in my discussions with them that a triumphalist approach to the issues of Nigeria will not bode well for the country and for those who have temporary advantage now, because if you are in power, it is for a set period. You will ultimately have to leave office after four years or eight years as the case may be.”
It will be recalled that Kanu was first arrested in Lagos on October 14, 2015, upon his return to the country from the United Kingdom.
Trial Justice Binta Nyako had on April 25, 2017, granted him bail on health ground, after he had spent about 18 months in detention.
Upon the perfection of the bail conditions, he was on April 28, 2017, released from the Kuje prison.
However, midway into the trial, the IPOB leader escaped from the country after soldiers invaded his country home at Afara Ukwu Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia State, an operation that led to the death of some of his followers.
Senator Abaribe, who initially stood as his surety, alongside two others, subsequently applied to the court to be allowed to withdraw from the case.
Not satisfied with Abaribe’s claim that he was not aware of the whereabouts of the defendant, the trial court ordered him to forfeit the N100 million he deposited as bond to secure Kanu’s bail.
Meanwhile, Kanu was later re-arrested in Kenya on June 19, 2021 and extraordinarily renditioned back to the country by security agents on June 27, 2021.
Following the development, the trial court, on June 29, 2021, remanded him in custody of DSS, where he remained till date.
On April 8, 2022, the court struck out eight out of the 15-count charge that FG preferred against him on the premise that they lacked substance.
Likewise, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, on October 13, 2022, ordered Kanu’s immediate release from detention even as it quashed the charge against him.
Dissatisfied with the decision, FG took the matter before the Supreme Court, even as it persuaded the appellate court to suspend the execution of the judgement, pending the determination of its appeal.
While deciding the appeal, the Supreme Court, on December 15, 2023, vacated the judgement of the appellate court and gave FG the nod to try the IPOB leader on the subsisting seven-count charge.