Following the continued insecurity and tensions in the Southeast, Igbo leaders have been called upon to intensify efforts towards engage with the federal government to give the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu a fair hearing at the scheduled commencement of his trial slated for 21st October 2021.
The Concerned Igbo Stakeholders Forum and the Monday Diamond Foundation made the call call at a joint press conference in Enugu over the weekend, stressing that doing so will bring back peace and stability in the region.
According to the spokesman of the groups, Monday Diamond, giving the IPOB leader a fair hearing would go a long way to stop the purported attempts to mar the forthcoming Anambra election and collapse business activities in the Southeast with sit-at-home protests.
He lamented that the Southeast region had lost trillions of Naira for missing out severally on the first day of working weeks due to the sit-at-home order in the region issued by the IPOB as a result of the continued detention of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The groups expressed concern that the rising spate of insecurity and violence in the Southeast would escalate if nothing was done to stem the tide.
They also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to use the Kanu’s trial as an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment towards the stability of peace and economic prosperity in the Southeast, by ensuring that the commencement of the trial employed all rightful judicial processes as enshrined in the law of the land.
“If a region that is a part of the One Nigeria equation says they should be fairly treated especially as it concerns their general welfare and political positions in the country, it is the responsibility of the Father of the Nation to treat the issue judiciously and diplomatically”, Diamond said.
Diamond continued, “While we commend the Leaders of the South on their efforts towards managing the rising tensions in the Southeast, we request the Southeast leaders to intensify more efforts towards engaging the Federal Government of Nigeria to give Mazi Nnamdi Kanu a fair hearing especially,as the scheduled commencement of his trial which is slated for 21st October 2021 is around the corner.
He also used the opportunity to call on the good people of Anambra State to turn out en masse and vote for the candidates of their choice in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
