Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has called on the Nigerian government to release Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
In remarks to reporters in Onitsha on Saturday, Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State, stressed that there is no valid reason to keep detaining Kanu, particularly since a Nigerian court had previously acquitted him, though this decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court.
This isn’t the first time His Excellency has spoken out for Kanu’s release. In March 2017, he publicly urged the Nigerian government to free the IPOB leader and advocated for peaceful measures in addressing Biafra-related issues.
He said: “I don’t see any reason for his continuous detention, especially as the courts have granted him bail. The government must obey the court.
“The rule of law is an intricate asset that we must cherish and live with. I use this opportunity to plead with the federal government to ensure that all those who are in similar conditions are released and discussed.
“We are in a democracy, and we should not be doing things that are arbitrary and not within the law.”
Kanu was arrested by the Federal Government during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2015 on charges of treason, stemming from his advocacy for Igbo secession from Nigeria. He was granted bail in 2017, but he had to leave the country following a military operation at his residence in Umuahia and has remained in custody since then.
