For the umpteenth time, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has called for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment last year following this conviction by the court on allegations brought against him by the federal government. He is currently serving his sentence at a Sokoto Correctional Centre.
President General of the group, John Azuta -Mbata, stated that his continued incarceration was a source of pain to Ndigbo, stressing that “no Igboman is happy about the situation”.
Azuta-Mbata recalled that the release of Kanu was a collective demand by the organisation at its Enugu meeting last year.
Speaking during the Imeobi Ohanaeze/General meeting held at the secretariat of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Enugu, Azuta-Mbata said he had made it clear to the Federal Government that Kanu’s imprisonment means putting the entire Igboland in jail.
He stressed that no Igbo man is happy that Kanu is incarcerated.
He called on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to release Kanu, describing it as “the minimal demand of Ndigbo”, while cautioning Igbo leaders against misleading the Federal Government on the mood of the region.
In the same vein, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, proscribed the award of the title of Ezeigbo (King) anywhere outside Igboland.
This follows a recent protest in South Africa over a kingship title conferred on an Igboman,
Ohanaeze also adopted a new constitution for the organisation.
Abolishing such a title in response to the development in South Africa, Azuta-Mbata stated that anything to the contrary would henceforth attract sanctions on the individual concerned.
The decision to abolish the title was reached after a briefing by the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, on the development and the problem it was creating for innocent Igbo in the Diaspora.