Nnamdi Kanu: Group Tells Southeast Governors to Speak Up on IPOB Leader’s Arrest
- The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development has reacted to Nnamdi Kanu's rearrest and extradition to Nigeria
- The rights advocacy group says southeast governors ought to have taken a stance on the IPOB leader's ordeal
- The group also blamed the agitations in Igboland on the bad leadership exhibited by the southeast governors
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Aba - A civil rights group, Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development, FENRAD, has chided southeast governors on their silence over the re-arrest and extradition of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
According to the group, the failure of the southeast governors to speak up on the matter portrays them as lacking the courage to defend their own.
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FENRAD outlines how southeast governors triggered agitations
FENRAD in a press statement signed by its executive director, Comrade Nnanna Nwafor, and published by Vanguard newspaper on Monday, July 12 stated that:
“Had the five regional governors been alive to their responsibility without creating the kind of leadership vacuum, discontent and disconnect they created resulting in disillusionment among the common people in the region, the youthful energy that went into pushing for the region’s exit from the rest of Nigeria or into the plebiscitary restoration of Biafra would have otherwise been put into good regional/national use.”
FENRAD also blamed the establishment of the Eastern Security Network, ESN by Kanu on the failure of the southeast governors to set up a regional security outfit for the defence of the region against the rampaging killer herdsmen.
The rights group noted that though Kanu’s style of agitation for self-determination might not be popular among some folks, agitation for self-determination is he has the fundamentally guaranteed right of every human being.
FENRAD, therefore, urged the federal government to rather engage Kanu and other agitators for self-determination on dialogue with a view to addressing their genuine grievances instead of clamping down on them which only amounts to postponing the doomsday.
Mbaka calls for Kanu's release
Meanwhile, the spiritual director, Adoration Ministry Enugu, Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka, has called for the unconditional release of Kanu.
The Punch newspaper reports that the Catholic priest made the call during a sermon on Sunday, July 11.
Mbaka said he made the request when some government agents, whom he did not mention, allegedly came calling with some offers.
In a related development, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has said in as much it was not averse to Kanu’s trial, he must be tried within the ambit of the laws of the country and in line with global best practices.
The group stated this in a communique issued at the end of its National Executive Committee meeting held on Saturday, July 10 in Enugu.
The group further said to ensure a fair trial of the leader of the IPOB leader, it has constituted a legal team and eminent Igbo leaders that to monitor the proceedings throughout the trial.
Similarly, elder statesman and Second Republic aviation minister, Mbazulike Amechi, has advised the federal government to give Kanu a fair hearing.
Amechi said Kanu should be assumed innocent until he is found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
He also said the federal authorities should be cautious about the way they will handle Kanu, and the way they will handle his case.
Source: Legit.ng
