The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) Worldwide, the apex socio-cultural youth organisation of the Igbo race, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently pursue a political solution to the lingering case involving the detained Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and the Federal Government.
The OYC, under the leadership of Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, made the clarion call in a press statement issued in Owerri on Thursday and made available to newsmen, including The Authority.
Igboayaka said the alleged abduction, detention and prolonged incarceration of Kanu had remained a major source of grievance among the people of the South-East geopolitical zone.
He urged President Tinubu to demonstrate statesmanship by embracing dialogue and a political approach towards resolving the matter in the interest of peace, reconciliation and stability in the South-East and Nigeria at large.
Igboayaka recalled the circumstances surrounding the alleged abduction of the outlawed IPOB leader and his subsequent five-year incarceration by the Department of State Services (DSS) under the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the development as unwarranted.
According to him, the incident created deep resentment and a lasting sense of alienation among Igbo youths towards the late president.
“It will go down in the annals of history that the late President Muhammadu Buhari left office with deep-seated enmity from Ndigbo over the abduction and incarceration of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
He therefore passionately appealed to President Tinubu to avoid what he described as a repeat of tribal grievances against Easterners by releasing Kanu and other IPOB detainees currently held in police cells and correctional facilities across the country.
The OYC leader also accused the Federal Government of applying what he described as a double standard by allegedly negotiating with terrorists and kidnappers while simultaneously pursuing terrorism-related charges against Kanu, whom he described as a self-determination leader seeking a referendum.
He observed that a political solution to the Kanu matter could provide an important pathway towards national healing and reconciliation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“One of the greatest pathways to national healing and reconciliation amid the current political climate is for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to adopt a political solution by releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and all pro-Biafra detainees unconditionally before the next general election.”
Igboayaka further dismissed the capacity of some South-East political leaders who, according to him, have been promising President Tinubu electoral support in 2027.
He specifically mentioned Senator David Nweze Umahi, Prof. Charles Soludo, Dr. Peter Mbah, His Excellency Francis Nwifuru and Senator Hope Uzodimma, describing them as “jokers of this generation” who, he claimed, lacked the capacity, influence and acceptability to mobilise Ndigbo towards voting for the President.
“The only thing that can make Ndigbo consider voting massively for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027 is the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and all pro-Biafrans in detention,” Igboayaka insisted. Authority.
