Nnamdi Kanu’s matter security issue, not Tinubu’s, says Igbo leader

An industrialist and President of Osisioma Foundation, Chike Obidigbo, has stated that President Bola Tinubu is not responsible for detaining the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, emphasising that Kanu’s situation is purely a security issue.

Obidigbo criticised some Igbo politicians for politicising the call for Kanu’s release, arguing that their actions are worsening the situation.

He advised South East politicians against compounding the travails of the IPOB leader.

Expressing dismay, Obidigbo noted that some Igbo political elites are mishandling the popular demand for Kanu’s release, driven by ignorance and self-interest. He added that overzealous politicians are acting out of ignorance and primarily for self-aggrandizement.

In a statement made available to reporters on Sunday, July 7, in Awka, Anambra State, Obidigbo emphasised that the delicate nature of Kanu’s incarceration requires diplomacy to achieve a political solution.

The statement reads, “I woke up this morning with a very heavy heart. I am constrained to say that I am not comfortable with the way and manner our political elites are going about their request for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

“The sense I make of the cheap scramble by Igbo politicians to be identified in the growing calls for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s freedom from prolonged and unjust incarceration is that they are merely playing to the gallery.

“It is obvious that President Bola Tinubu is not entirely the one holding Nnamdi Kanu. It was not even former President Muhammadu Buhari nor his erstwhile Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN). All the AGFs, including the current one, are mere legal officers for the government.”

He stressed that the current approach of politicizing the issue is counterproductive and called for a more measured and strategic approach to securing Kanu’s release.

He said, “However, Kanu’s matter is a security issue, which requires the involvement of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. The President may not have absolute power to release Kanu although he has the power to influence things if he so wishes.”

Obidigbo also said that Kanu acted against British economic interests in Nigeria.

He said, “Everything that Kanu said or did was done in Britain, being a British citizen. But, they could not afford to arrest him on British soil, because of obvious and potential backlash.

“What Britain did was to join in the international conspiracy to lure Kanu to Kenya, knowing that Africans lack integrity and respect for laws.

“They then got him kidnapped in Kenya and forcibly and illegally renditioned him to Nigeria. They could not have done that in any other part of the world, outside of Africa, without extreme repercussions and consequences. Such can only happen in Africa, and they knew that much.

“The British High Commissioner in Nigeria showed no interest in at least speaking up against the violent kidnap and rendition of her citizen. All the Embassy was interested in was to hear Kanu renounce his dream of a Biafra, probably with a promise never to support any such agitation in future.

“Britain continues to see Nigeria as their own fertile farmland for free economic exploitation and political manipulation. They have no wish to relax their stranglehold, not now, not in the near future.”

He warned that if Kanu is released on political grounds, the struggle will most likely continue.

He said, “But then, African youths are gradually coming up to challenge all the existing frustrations, deprivations, and blatant exclusion from enjoying the natural endowments of their own countries.

“It seems that all that is hindering the actualisation of the dream of Biafra is the lack of involvement of the elites- excluding imposed leaders and greedy political elites- in the struggle.

“Genuine efforts to free Kanu should be directed at the NSA as well as the Ambassadors of Britain, USA and Ambassadors of some well-meaning, and Influential countries like China, Russia, etc.

“Without the buy-in of those powerful nations, the struggle will surely continue, until Biafra gets the referendum that IPOB has been demanding, however they get it.

“If Kanu is released on political grounds, without holding a referendum as IPOB demands, the struggle will most likely continue, thereby rendering elusive or delaying further the much sought after peace.”