By Adadareporters
The American Military Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), weekend, sounded a note of warning to Igbo leaders sabotaging the release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra which is championing the secession of the Southeast states from Nigeria due to marginalisation.
AVID, in an open letter to Igbo leaders, signed by its President, Dr Sylvester Onyia, and the Secretary, Dr Godson Obiagwu, said it is demanding justice for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, describing his rendition from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021 as “infamous”.
It called on Ndigbo worldwide, individually and collectively, to demand the immediate release of Kanu by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, adding that “it has become crystal clear that the courts are incapable of dispensing justice or upholding the rule of law in this matter”.
AVID also called on Southeast leaders in elective positions, especially the five Southeast governors, to approach President Tinubu to seek the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The group wrote, “We earnestly call on the Southeast Governors’ Forum (SEGF) to, without further delay, meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on this matter. Any further delay could be construed as evidence that all Southeast governors are complicit in the continued incarceration of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
The group also accused the Chairman of Southeast Governors’ Forum, Gov Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, of being “somewhat reluctant to deploy the platform of SEGF to meet with President Tinubu on this matter”.
It said Uzodimma’s unwillingness to enable Kanu’s release “stems from the fact that he is afraid that the release of Kanu will abruptly end the insecurity in the region and Imo State in particular and thus end the ‘special security intervention fund’ he is receiving from the Federal Government of Nigeria purportedly to fund his controversial Ebubeagu’.”
It said, “We strongly urge Governor Hope Uzodimma to walk back and put the lives of Ndi Imo and Ndigbo above any fleeting monetary gains from this security intervention fund he is receiving from the federal government. It is far better to have a freed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu helping to secure our people than using Ebubeagu that is known to be adding fuel to the fire of insecurity in our land.”
The group also revealed that a certain governor is blocking the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu because of his fear that Kanu would scuttle his ambition to become a vice president of Nigeria either in 2027 or beyond.
It said, “We say to such politician that a free Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will have neither the motivation, nor the interest to block the ambition of any Igbo that wishes to be a vice president of Nigeria.”
It said it was committed to seeing that no such interference would occur because “we know that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is apolitical and has no interest in engaging in who becomes what in Nigeria’s political landscape”.
It tasked all Southeast leaders that “come in contact with the heads of
security agencies in Nigeria “to impress on them to eschew their seeming reliance on the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as a subterfuge for padding security votes for Southeast which they directly benefit from”.
It stated that, “We make bold to say that it is unconscionable for any true security chief driven by patriotism and respect for sanctity of human life to block the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, knowing fully well that a free Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is critical to ending the insecurity in Southeast, once and for all.”
AVID called on Southeast civic leaders, such as Ohanaeze, traditional rulers, the clergy and frontline civic groups to, should Southeast Governors’ Forum become unwilling to meet with President Tinubu in the coming days, “to promptly convene a group that will seek an immediate appointment to meet with President Tinubu to end this madness in our land”.
It also called on the Obi of Onitsha to convene a small group of eminent chiefs and the clergy to lead in meeting with President Tinubu. It urged Governor Alex Otti of Abia State to rise to the occasion in meeting with President Tinubu over Kanu’s release.
According to the group, “Gov Otti should rise to the occasion and go lone-wolf in meeting with President Tinubu with only one request: release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before 25th December 2024. We are suggesting this as the next best option because Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a native of Abia and thus deserving of all the protections and comfort he can get from his governor.”
