Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
As global condemnation continues to trail the continued detention of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the Founder, Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), and Secretary, Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA), Evangelist Eliot Uko, has said that detaining Kanu without charge is an aberration.
Kanu whose health is said to be deteriorating has remained in a solitary confinement at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS, since June 2021 when he was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria from Kenya.
Uko said Kanu’s continued incarceration was part of the reason for the instability in the South-East Zone.
He noted with deep worry the devastating effects of his continued detention on the South-East, and urged the Federal Government to free the IPOB Leader for peace and security to return to the zone.
Uko who is also the Deputy Secretary, Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT), appealed to the Federal Government to consider the growing clamour for Kanu’s release in compliance with court judgments and the United Nations Opinion.
“The continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu at the DSS facility may not be profiting the region. The fact that there are no charges holding him, suggests that his continued detention at the DSS, may be actually an aberration.
“The need to restore normalcy to the land has become pertinent.
“I humbly join clergymen, statesmen, traditional rulers, elders and political leaders who in recent times have called for his early release.
“Since Governors and cultural organisations are demanding his release in line with the court order that he should be allowed to go home, it is necessary that he should be released, since his continuous detention does not seem in anyway to assist the pursuit of resolution and closure.
“Peace will be better achieved under an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual political solution, than under any other atmosphere.
“This is hoping that the authorities will appreciate the need for harmony, peace, and progress.”
