Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has expressed his intentions to activate plans for the release of Nnamdi Kanu following his life imprisonment.
Mr Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism, on Thursday, by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
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The IPOB leader hails from Afara-Ukwu in Umuahia North Local Government Area of the Abia State, Nigeria’s South-east.
Mr Otti, in a statement on Friday, acknowledged that the conviction of Mr Kanu
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“has broken a lot of our people and created an atmosphere of shock and sorrow in Abia and beyond.”
The Abia governor recalled that he had appealed that dialogue should be the only solution to the trial after some Nigerian security forces invaded Mr Kanu’s family house in Afara-Ukwu in September 2017 which resulted in loss of lives.
“Eight days after that military onslaught at Afaraukwu Umuahia, specifically on September 25, 2017, I wrote a piece on my Thisday Column captioned “Operation Python Dance: Killing a Fly With a Sledge Hammer”.
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“I condemned that invasion and the killings that followed once again, and offered extensively well-thought-out views and suggestions I felt could help de-escalate tension and unite the nation if the then federal government was willing to pay attention to those views,” he said.
Plans for resolution after conviction
Mr Otti argued that the “poor management of the IPOB issue at the incubation stage” was responsible for the “problem we have today,” which he said motivated him to seek a solution.
The governor said, from 22 December 2023 while the trial of Mr Kanu at the Federal High Court in Abuja lasted, he engaged Nigerian authorities “at the highest level” on alternative resolution strategy.
“I must state that some agreements were made which were dependent on quick dispensation of the matter at the federal high court. Unfortunately, the matter dragged until this time.
“I am confident that judgement having been delivered, the alternative resolution will now kick in. It is instructive that this strategy was explained to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu when I visited him while he was in the DSS (SSS) Custody earlier in the year,” he stated.
“While Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is free to appeal his conviction, I’m happy to inform you that I have activated and will continue to work on the already agreed strategy until his freedom is secured.”
Open for collaboration
Mr Otti expressed his willingness to collaborate with other Nigerians who “genuinely” want to contribute in securing Mr Kanu’s freedom through “diplomacy and dialogue” with President Bola Tinubu-led federal government.
The governor stressed that although Mr Tinubu did not “create the problem,” the president “can courageously and compassionately solve it and take the credit.”
“I’ll like to use this opportunity to appeal to our people to remain calm and refrain from utterances and actions capable of stoking fear, violence and insecurity and may negatively affect the outcome of the engagements we are already having.
“I have no doubt that with the assurances I have received from the federal government, a resolution is in sight and Mazi Kanu will receive his freedom,” he assured.
‘Don’t play politics with Nnamdi Kanu’s travails’
Mr Otti warned politicians in Nigeria against using Mr Kanu’s issue to play politics.
“May I also caution politicians who have positioned themselves to play petty and dirty politics with the travails of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to jettison the idea, and rather work with us to secure his freedom,” he said.
The governor assured indigenes of Abia State and the South-east region of his commitment “to genuinely solving this problem with wisdom, high level dialogue and diplomacy,” to ensure return of peace in the region.
READ ALSO: Bianca Ojukwu speaks on Nnamdi Kanu’s life imprisonment
Conviction, sentence
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Mr Kanu was on Thursday convicted at the Federal High Court in Abuja after being found guilty on all the seven counts filed against him by the Nigerian government.
The trial judge, Mr Omotosho, consequently sentenced him to life imprisonment for terrorism.
Mr Omotosho also ordered that he be prevented from having access to mobile devices and broadcast equipment except under the watch of security operatives.
On Friday, barely 24 hours after the ruling, Aloy Ejimakor, the former special counsel to Mr Kanu, announced that the IPOB leader had been moved from the facility of the State Security Service (SSS) to a prison facility in Sokoto State.
The SSS spokesperson, Favour Dozie, had neither denied the claim nor responded to an enquiry from PREMIUM TIMES on the development.
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