Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, says some members of the Igbo elite are complicit in the prolonged detention of Nnamdi Kanu.
He added that the incarceration of the Indigenous People of
Biafra (IPOB) leader is proof that “Nigeria has an Igbo problem”.
Speaking in an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90Minutes
Africa, Sowore argued that Kanu is a casualty of the post-civil war
marginalisation of the Igbos.
“Nigeria has an Igbo problem. It’s like when a father is
dying, they will tell their children, I have a problem with Igbo people; please
continue from there,” he said.
Sowore expressed disappointment that the President Bola
Tinubu administration has not freed Kanu.
“I expected that the first act of Tinubu in office would
have been to release Nnamdi Kanu. But the fact that it got worse shows that
there is a kind of conspiracy going on,” he added.
“I also know that there are some Igbo elite who are
complicit in his detention because there was a time when there were discussions
about his release, and they said it should hold on until after the election.
“And now, after the
election, the devil seems to have intervened more strongly.”
BACKGROUND
Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State
Services (DSS) since he was re-arrested in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria in
2021.
He has been standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering
on treasonable felony.
In 2017, the federal high court in Abuja granted Kanu bail
on the charges filed against him by the federal government.
However, the court revoked the bail and issued a bench
warrant for his arrest after he failed to present himself as required.
In April 2022, Binta Nyako, presiding judge, struck out
eight of the 15 counts in the charge.
The remaining seven counts were also quashed by the court of
appeal on October 13, 2022, with the judge ordering Kanu’s release.
However, on October 28, 2022, the court of appeal granted a
stay of execution on its verdict discharging Kanu, after the federal government
filed an appeal at the supreme court.
In March, Kanu was denied bail. In May, his bail request was
again turned down.
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