A traditional ruler from Nigeria’s South-east has asked President Bola Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu from prison or deport him to Kenya, from where he was renditioned to Nigeria.
Lawrence Agubuzu, the traditional ruler of Ezema Olo Community, spoke on Tuesday at the 2026 National Traditional and Religious Leaders Summit on Health held at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja.
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Ezema Olo is a community in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east.
Mr Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism in November by a federal court in Abuja.
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The IPOB leader is currently serving a life imprisonment at a prison facility in Sokoto State. He recently appealed against his conviction.
IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it seeks to carve out from the South-east and parts of the South-south of Nigeria.
‘The ball stops in your court’
Speaking at the event, Mr Agubuzu told Mr Tinubu, who was physically present, to release Mr Kanu for peace in the South-east.
“The ball stops in your court. Bring this man out. If we don’t want him in Nigeria, return him to Kenya or London, where they took him from,” he told the president.
The traditional ruler, while addressing Mr Tinubu, accused the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, of hypocrisy, arguing that the Ooni was making plans to confer a “high honour” on the Yoruba Nation agitator Sunday Igboho whom he (Mr Agubuzu) described as Mr Kanu’s “counterpart.”
“I must tell you, Mr President, that personally, I don’t feel very happy because you were not here in the morning. There were several speeches.
“I listened to the opening address by His Imperial Majesty, Ooni of Ife. He was urging all of us to work as a family, to work as a team, and to see Nigeria as one.
“This is good. But when you look at it, this same imperial majesty is arranging to confer a very high honour on Sunday Igboho – who, in my own part of Nigeria and the South-east, we see as a counterpart of Nnamdi Kanu,” he said.
“My brother, fellow royal father, the imperial majesty does not seem to understand the pain in my heart when Nnamdi Kanu is in Sokoto.”
‘South-east youths now see us as sellouts’
Mr Agubuzu also said the youths from the South-east are angry with the traditional rulers in the region and now perceive them as sellouts because of their alleged silence on Mr Kanu’s matter.
“You see, some of us here are being asked to go and work, but the young people in the South-east are so agitated they can even beat us.
“They see us as sellouts. We come to Abuja, they may think we’ve come to collect money and then keep quiet. So sad,” he said.
“Please do something about this. We cannot make progress in this country if we don’t tell ourselves the truth. There’s no way.”
Conviction and life imprisonment
Mr Kanu’s terrorism trial lasted for 10 years, from 2015, when he was first arrested, to November 2025.
On 20 November 2025, the IPOB leader was convicted of terrorism by the court, which found him guilty on all seven counts filed against him by the Nigerian government.
READ ALSO: South-east traders reopen shops after Nnamdi Kanu’s cancellation of sit-at-home
The trial Judge, James Omotosho, then sentenced him to life imprisonment and ordered that he be prevented from having access to mobile devices and broadcast equipment except under the watch of security operatives.
The IPOB leader was moved from Abuja to Sokoto State to serve his prison term.
In February, Mr Kanu filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal against his conviction.
The IPOB leader hails from Afara-Ukwu in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, in the South-east.
Since his conviction, prominent Igbo leaders have called for his release through a political solution.
For instance, in November 2025, Governor Alex Otti of Abia State visited Mr Kanu at the Sokoto prison.
Before the visit, Mr Otti had announced he would activate plans to secure Mr Kanu’s release from the prison facility barely 24 hours after the court sentenced the IPOB leader.
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