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The Campaign for Democracy (CD) in South East and Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’ Foundation (HURIDE) has called on Federal Government as a matter of urgency release the leader of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to restore peace in South East.
In a joint statement in Abuja, the human rights bodies said if Kanu is released criminals who operated under the guise of agitators or freedom fighters would have no reason to cause mischief again.
In the statement signed by the Chairman of CD in South East and Executive Director, of HURIDE, Dede Uzor A Uzor, the groups commended the efforts of some South East Governors to stop Sit -at-home in the zone but stated that this effort cannot succeed without releasing Kanu.
The groups said instead of resorting to mere propaganda which does not yield much result but rather escalates insecurity in the zone the Governors and other political leaders in the zone should work hard for the Federal Government to release the leader of the Biafran agitator.
The rights bodies said Federal Government under the immediate President Muhammadu Buhari threw away the opportunity of restoring peace in the country by refusing to release Nnamdi Kanu when both the Federal High Court and the Appeal Court set him free.
They lamented that this was even when Buhari himself told a delegation of Igbo leaders led by First Republic politician, Late Chief Mbazuluike Amechi, he promise to look into his request but later change his mind that he would want Court to decide the fate of Nnamdi Kanu and a few months later Chief Mbazuluike slurped and die.
Unfortunately, when the Court decided the fate of Kanu which was contrary to Buhari’s expectation, he refused to release him, saying that the former President threw the rule of law and statesmanship to the dog and clung to parochial interest by refusing to set Kanu free despite judgments of Courts of competent jurisdictions and by blatantly refusing to obey the rule of law in turn bastardizing and threatening the foundation of our democracy.
They then asked President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to rise above this parochialism by releasing Kanu to stop the tension and insecurity in the country, particularly in the South East without further delay, Dede Uzor appealed
