Senators from the Southeast region of Nigeria have pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to order the release of the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.The Senators who were 15 in number and led by a former Abia state deputy Governor, Senator Eyinanya Abaribe claimed that unless Mr Kanu is released, the social and economic activities in the South East region will continue to be stagnant.
The Senators had a closed-door meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi where the plea to release Mr Kanu was delivered for onward passage to the presidency.
Addressing Judiciary Correspondents immediately after the closed-door meeting, Mr Abaribe who spoke on behalf of his colleagues lamented that the economy and social life in the South East had suffered enough due to the continued incarceration of the Biafran Nation Agitator.
He noted that the peaceful demand of the detained IPOB leader had been hijacked by hoodlums and criminals leading to wanton killings of innocent people, including security operatives.
The former Abia state deputy Governor told newsmen that he had already met with Mr Kanu at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja and had agreed to abide by any conditional release.
Once Mr Kanu is released, the tension and acrimonious engulfing the South East region since 2021 when he was detained in the DSS facility will become an event of the past.
The Senators therefore pleaded with the AGF to convey their message to President Tinubu and for the AGF to use his position to terminate all the charges brought against the IPOB leader by the Federal Government.
Besides the Senators, Mr Abaribe said that virtually all political leaders, religious leaders and stakeholders have unanimously agreed that Mr Kanu be released for peace to bounce back to the region.
Nnamdi Kanu was re-arrested in Kenya in 2021 by the Federal Government and brought to the country for trial on terrorism charges.
Although he pleaded not guilty to the charges, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja declined to admit him to bail on the ground that he jumped the earlier one in which Senator Abaribe was his surety.
Mr Kanu has since been in the custody of the DSS on the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
