Even with the security issues since his incarceration, including the weekly Monday sit-at-home, leaders and stakeholders of Igbo land, at the weekend, failed to present the issue of releasing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, at a Town Hall meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
This is contrary to the expectations of many Igbo that the visit would offer the opportunity to make a pronouncement on Kanu.
Several Igbo leaders believe that the release of Kanu who has been detained since 2021 would be instrumental to the restoration of security and peace in Igbo land.
While a good number of them have visited him in custody, others had individually asked the President to order his release.
Less than 24 hours after he assumed office as the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo two weeks ago, Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu had called on Tinubu to release Kanu to end insecurity in the region.
Also, a resolution of the last meeting of the South-East governors forum in Enugu, late last year, had agreed to meet with the President to plead for the release of Kanu. But at the town hall meeting attended by the governors, political leaders, traditional rulers and Christian leaders, among others at the weekend in Enugu with Tinubu, no mention was made about Kanu’s continued incarceration and its implications on the South-East region.
The town hall meeting coincided with the one-day working visit of the President to Enugu State to commission projects executed by Governor Peter Mbah’s administration.
Several Igbo including the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti; Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Benjamin Kanu; Senators; Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Achebe, among others, attended the event.
Speaking at the event, the former Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, while applauding the Tinubu administration for completing the Port Harcourt to Aba section of the Eastern rail line, appealed to the President to prioritise the completion of the remaining portions of the rail link.
He emphasised the rail link’s potential to boost Nigeria’s non-oil exports and economic growth.
Another indigene of Enugu, Chris Ugoh, noted that the Anambra River Basin has the potential to support power generation and industrial feedstocks.
He appealed to the federal government to develop this resource to benefit the South-East and other regions of the country, including the Middle Belt and the North.
National Commissioner representing the South East in the Police Service Commission, Onyemuche Nnamani, urged the Federal Government to implement modern security strategies in the region, akin to the statewide CCTV system and patrol cars with surveillance cameras in Enugu State.
Nnamani called on the federal government to de-emphasise the mounting of checkpoints and roadblocks in the region, saying: “It is inefficient and exposes our security personnel to attacks by non-state actors.” (Guardian)
