A group of Igbo businessmen based in the United States of America, under the aegis of “Njiko Amaka”, has raised alarm over the planned “Free Nnamdi Kanu Now” protest for October 20, describing it as a ploy by the presidential candidates in the 2023 elections, Omoyele Sowore and Atiku Abubakar, to disrupt the ongoing trial of the detained Indigenous People Of Biafra leader.
In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by its Chairman, Chief Emeka Ejidike, and Secretary, Chief Okey Anosike, the group accused the two politicians of seeking political relevance through the agitation for Kanu’s release.
Atiku, who was the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the last general election, publicly backed the planned protest, reportedly masterminded by Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the election.
According to the statement, the group said it was worried by the activities of what it described as the “rhetoric by self-serving politicians who lost relevance at the polls and now want to use the plight of our dearly beloved brother, Nnamdi Kanu, to score cheap political points.”
According to the group, “We have watched with concern the activities of Sowore on the ongoing trial of our brother, Nnamdi Kanu. As if that isn’t worrying enough, Atiku Abubakar, who has never organised or joined any protest to free his violence-ravaged region, has joined Sowore.
“Ndigbo have a wise saying about a tortoise that spent years in a dung pit. On the day of his release, Mr Tortoise began to holler for his captors to quickly set him free, forgetting that he’d spent years in the pit.
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“This aptly captures the condition we found ourselves in with our brother, Nnamdi Kanu. He spent years in detention without trial. Now that the prosecution has shown a genuine commitment to speed up his trial, this is the wrongest of times to do anything that might jeopardise the trial,” noted the group.
“The question well-meaning Nigerians should ask Sowore is why his sudden interest in leading a protest for Kanu at the same time he is facing criminal charges for calling President Bola Tinubu an unprintable name?
“Another question well-meaning Nigerians should ask Atiku Abubakar is why he is more interested in Nnamdi Kanu when his ‘brother’ Mohammed Usman aka Khalid al-Barnawi, who masterminded the 2011 bombing of the UN building in Abuja, has been in detention since April 2016?
“Atiku is from the North. So is al-Barnawi. Why Atiku left out al-Barnawi, who had been in detention since 2016, and jumped on the case of Nnamdi Kanu, who was re-arrested in June 2021, is best known to him. All we know is that only evil motives drive a man to cry more than the bereaved.
“We advise all well-meaning Nigerians to see through the self-serving antics of Sowore and Atiku, who do not wish Nnamdi Kanu and, definitely, Ndigbo, well, to avoid them like a plague.
“We are happy that Ndigbo are not in short supply of worthy torchbearers who can plead the cause of Ndigbo. We have five governors, 15 senators, and scores of Representatives. Even today, Governor Peter Mbah assured that a political solution was being worked out for Kanu. We do not want fifth columnists to scuttle this.”
