Our Reporter, New York
The presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2023 General Election, Dumebi Kachikwu, has warned against adopting any political settlement to the Nnamdi Kanu case, describing such a move as a recipe for more chaos in the South-East.
He asserted this during an exclusive interview with the host of the online interview programme 90MinutesAfrica, Rudolf Okonkwo.
Kachikwu said those who are advocating for a political settlement had not considered the grave implications that may result from such, pointing out that the thousands of people who had lost loved ones in the senseless violence that has engulfed the South-East may continue to hold grudges against the IPOB leader unless his freedom comes from a declaration of his innocence by a competent court of law.
“The thousands of people who have lost family members in the crisis in the South-East need to hear a competent court of law pronounce Nnamdi Kanu as innocent of the crimes for them not to hold it against him.
“These people are potential security threats if not handled carefully. We need to understand that they are victims of the Nigerian crisis.
“So if we take any political solution to this problem, these people will be there with a lot of angst and hatred festering in them because they have lost fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters,” the presidential candidate said.
The CEO of Roots TV further said that since Nnamdi Kanu has denied giving orders to anyone to carry out mayhem in the region, the best approach would be to allow the judicial process to conclude without any interference from the government.
“We need to actually let the courts take charge of the process, and they are doing a good job at that. So the government of Nigeria must stop interfering in the process and respect the independence of the judiciary.
“We must learn to obey court orders in Nigeria. The government ought to have released Nnamdi Kanu while they are preparing to appeal the order for his release. They are making the situation worse by keeping him locked up when the High Court has ordered his release,” Kachikwu stated.
