The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has appealed to Igbo and other leaders of the southern part of Nigeria to stop begging President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to release its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
According to IPOB, asking the government to free Kanu seems to suggest he is a criminal appealing for clemency when the only crime he committed was to agitate for the freedom of his marginalised people of Biafra.
This was contained in a statement the group spokesman, Emma Powerful, issued on Monday.
The statement came as the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum (SMBLF), recently sent an appeal to Buhari and the Federal Government to follow the example of the Benin Republic government, which release the Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, last week.
SMBLF had in its appeal accused the Buhari-led government of “openly displaying double standards with Kanu’s continued detention,” decrying a situation Kanu is kept in detention while “Boko Haram terrorists were given VIP treatment”.
But in its statement, IPOB said, “Leaders from the south should stop begging the FG to do what will save the already battered image of the country because no court can try or convict him.
“What Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is facing is a gross and flagrant violation of his human rights, as well as the criminal violation of International humanitarian law and extant treaties forbidding extraordinary rendition, it is impossible and can’t happen.
“Begging the Federal Government may simply give the impression that he is guilty of an offence when he has committed none.
“The Federal Government should do the needful by either withdrawing the charges on or before 8th April, 2022.”