Nnamdi Kanu should also be released like Sunday Igboho, Igbo youths tell Tinubu

 

Igbo youths, represented by the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from DSS custody, drawing a parallel with the release of Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo (popularly known as Sunday Igboho), from detention by Beninese authorities.

In a statement issued by its President General, Comrade Goodluck Ibem, COSEYL asserted that the release of Sunday Igboho was facilitated by the Federal Government, although Igboho himself expressed gratitude to various Yoruba personalities, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Professor Wole Soyinka, and Ayo Adebanjo, for their role in his release.

“We are very aware that the Federal Government played a significant role in securing the release of Sunday Igboho from detention in Benin Republic,” COSEYL claimed.

Despite this, COSEYL argued that it would be a case of selective justice if the Federal Government failed to similarly secure the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who, like Sunday Igboho, is an agitator.

The statement emphasized that agitation is not a crime under the law and that any citizen who feels aggrieved has the right to agitate for their rights.

COSEYL expressed surprise at the Federal Government’s reluctance to unconditionally release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from DSS custody, as ordered by the Federal Court of Appeal, seeing it as a double standard.

COSEYL further contended that the festering insecurity in the South East zone is fueled by the continued detention of Kanu.

“The insecurity in the South East geopolitical zone is because of the unlawful incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu and the marginalization of the people of South East in the scheme of things,” the statement declared.

COSEYL attributed the agitation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to the Federal Government’s marginalization, maltreatment, and unprovoked attacks on the Igbo people.

The group further called on President Tinubu to urgently secure the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, just as the Federal Government facilitated the release of Sunday Igboho by Beninese authorities, emphasizing that the people of the South East eagerly await the return of their son, Nnamdi Kanu.