Simdi Ndukuba, Onitsha
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation on Thursday, called on President Mohammed Buhari to release the embattled leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu,
Ohanaeze also called on the President to release all Igbo youths in detention over the agitation for Biafra.
Ambassador George Obiozor, Ohanaeze, President General, made the call in his opening address at the ongoing Ohanaeze meeting in Enugu.
While expressing the hope that the Igbo nation would come out stronger from its current travail, Obiozor noted that Ndigbo seeks healing, national unity, and progress on a platform of justice, equity, fairness and a sense of belonging in Nigeria which will start with the release of Igbo youths detained in various cells across the country without trial.
Speaking on the current security situation tearing the region apart, Obiozor said that each geo-political zone had its own peculiarity.
He said, “The advent of insecurity in the South East is both bizarre and dramatic. The South East had been adjudged the most serene and peaceful zone in Nigeria until April 5, 2021, when gunmen attacked the correctional facility in Owerri, Imo State and freed a total of 1,844 prison inmates.
“Since the April 5 episode, insecurity in the South East has attained an unprecedented and unbearable crescendo.”
In condemning the spate of violence in the South East, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide also called attention to the strategic capacity of the local non-state actors to overwhelm a highly fortified correctional centre and discharge a total of 1,844 inmates without any arrest.”
However, commenting on the 2023 general election, Obiozor urged Igbos wherever they reside in Nigeria to make haste to acquire their PVC.
“In this connection, I call on the Association of South East Town Unions, traditional rulers, the leadership of Ndigbo in Diaspora, religious bodies, market associations and all other groups to take this message very seriously. It is a task that must be undertaken,” he added.