The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, on Monday, December 30, 2024, insisted that only the unconditional release from detention of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu ,will usher in a lasting peace in the South East region.
The Source reports that since 2021 when Kanu was arrested and detained by the Federal Government, the security situation in the South East, has worsened with spate of violence, destruction of private and public properties and wanton killings of innocent people rocking the region.
Not a few have tended to blame the unmitigated security challenges in the region on the continued incarceration and trial of the IPOB’s leader.
Equally, many have argued that his unconditional release will serve as a soothing balm as well as enable security agencies to effectively isolate the genuine members of the group from the hoodlums who have been building a huge capital out of the situation.
But speaking during an interactive session with the media at the Anambra state Government House Awka on December 17, 2024,Governor Charles Soludo expressed strong reservations over the possibility of Kanu’s release halting the security challenges in the South East.
He premised his position on the fears that the struggle, as enunciated by Kanu, has long been appropriated by some unscrupulous elements who use same for commercial purposes.
The Anambra State Governor, was of the opinion that the Biafra movement have been hijacked, with the hijackers not ready to let go ,even with the release of the founder/leader ,owing to the huge industry it has turned out to be for them.
But in a statement issued on Monday by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, IPOB faulted Governor Soludo’s position, describing it as a mere conspiracy theory, which aligns perfectly with the thinking of the Nigerian establishment.
However, the group expressed deep concern over the sudden somersault of Governor Soludo, given his earlier and well- documented view that Kanu’s release will halt the mindless killings and general insecurity that pervade the South East .
“It has come to the attention of the noble family of the IPOB , that His Excellency, Governor Chukwuma Soludo, recently made a public utterance to the effect that the release of our leader,
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, may not end insecurity in the South East.
“With this statement, the Governor appears to be pitching his tent firmly with those politicians who are against the release of our leader which not only defies logic, given the Governor’s antecedents in calling for his release, but is equally counterintuitive .
“If we are led to believe, as the Governor inferred, that those allegedly perpetuating insecurity in our blessed land are doing so on the purport that they want Kanu released, would it not make sense, therefore, to seek his release and in so doing ,call the bluff of these misguided individuals or at very least deny them any cover or legitimacy.
“That is why the statement made by Governor Soludo can be misread and misunderstood as conflicting with common sense.
“Suppose criminals are hiding under the name of Kanu and IPOB to commit any offence, in that case, common sense dictates that if he is released, nobody would hide under his name or that of IPOB to commit any crime or do anything untoward .
“Any criminal or criminals hiding under his name will be flushed out or be exposed and those operating in their own name will be driven out of our land.
“We thought that this approach was in line with the much touted non-kinetic initiative championed by the Governor himself.
“Why then did the Governor deviate and start sounding like a propagandist or spokesman for the Nigerian Army, that institution that is always looking for justification to kill or incarcerate yet more innocent Igbo young men and women”, part of the IPOB statement reads.
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