The American Military Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) have demanded the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on or before December 25, 2024.
In a letter to the Igbo community, AVID emphasised that since the courts have failed to deliver justice in Kanu’s case, Igbo leaders should engage with President Bola Tinubu to secure Kanu’s release through political means.
In the letter, signed by its President, Dr. Sylvester Onyia, and Secretary, Dr. Godson Obiagwu, AVID called on all South-East leaders, particularly the five governors in the region, to fulfil their promises and meet with Tinubu to demand Kanu’s immediate release. It warned that further delay could be seen as complicity in Kanu’s continued detention.
The group said: “We earnestly call on the South-East Governors Forum (SEGF) to meet with President Bola Tinubu on this matter without further delay, considering that this could be construed as evidence that all South-East governors are complicit in the continued incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu.
“If it is true, as we have been told that some South-East politicians, particularly one of the governors, who have been alleged to be blocking the release of Kanu because of his fear that Kanu will scuttle his ambition to become a vice president in 2027 or beyond, we say to such politician that free Kanu will not stop the ambition of any Igbo that wishes to be a vice president of Nigeria.
“And AVID is committed to seeing that no such interference will occur because we know that Kanu is apolitical and has no interest in engaging in who becomes what in Nigeria’s political landscape.
“In the same vein, all South-East leaders that come in contact with the heads of security agencies in Nigeria should impress on them to eschew their seeming reliance on the continued detention of Kanu as a subterfuge for padding security votes for South-East, which they directly benefit from,” they added.
AVID states that it is unconscionable for any true security chief driven by patriotism and respect for the sanctity of human life to block the release of Kanu, knowing full well that a free Kanu is critical to ending the insecurity in the region once and for all.
“To the South-East civic leaders, such as Ohaneze, traditional rulers, the clergy and frontline civic groups, we say if the South-East Governors Forum shows an unwillingness to meet with President Tinubu in the coming days.”
