Call for Nnamdi Kanu’s release not about South East insecurity – Soludo

The Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, has said the call for the release of the Indigenous People of Biafra leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has no connection to insecurity in the South-East.

Speaking on Monday during a media chat to mark his third year in office, Soludo, who has been advocating for Kanu’s release, stated that the issue should be viewed separately from security concerns in the region.

Soludo said, “The release of Nnamdi Kanu for me is different from the issue of security, I separate the two, I don’t link the two.”

According to Soludo, his call for Kanu’s freedom is based on the need for broader discussions about the future of the Igbo people, while insecurity in the region stems from criminal activities.

“Nnamdi Kanu for me is for us to have a conversation of a long-term future for the Igbos and that is a different conversation.

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“For the criminals who are kidnappers, we have given them olive branch, come out, we will train you, we will empower you, we will rehabilitate you, if you don’t we take you out,” the governor added.

He also accused Simon Ekpa, a self-proclaimed IPOB leader, of hijacking the situation and turning it into a “killing spree.”

“A whole lot of this Simon Ekpa and some of this his band of criminals took over and turned the things into a killing spree, just killing people with reckless abandon,” he said.

Simon Ekpa, who claimed to have succeeded Nnamdi Kanu as IPOB leader, was arrested in Finland last November by local police on charges of inciting terrorism.

Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services since 2021 following his arrest in Kenya by the Nigerian government.

Many have argued that his release could help curb insecurity in the region.