From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
Ohanaeze Ndigbo has called on the Federal Government to produce the detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in court on Thursday.
While blaming the agitations and youth restiveness in the South East on years of marginalisation and alienation by the Federal Government, the apex-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, said dialogue remained the panacea to ending the crisis in the region.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, in a statement, yesterday, said Kanu’s appearance in court was necessary to prove to the global community that he is hale and hearty and that shady judicial process is not contemplated while he is on trial.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that our son, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is produced in court on Thursday, October 21, 2021.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo stands on a firm wicket to proclaim that the agitation and youth restiveness in the South East of Nigeria is simply a reaction or an effect or the consequences of an orchestrated alienation by the Federal Government over the years.
“History shows that it is extremely difficult to have peace amidst injustice. Emphatically, we need not look elsewhere to know that IPOB is simply an exponent of the Igbo collective sentiments and predicaments in our tortuous journey and an unquantifiable sacrifice for one Nigeria.”
The group urged Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, leader of Ohanaeze delegation to the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, and its legal team led by its National Legal Adviser, Joseph Ojodu and Goddy Uwazurike, to put in their best to ensure that Kanu obtained justice.
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor, had in his inaugural speech on January 20, 2021 called on the presidency to consider dialogue as a panacea to peace, insisting that the jackboot approach to the IPOB uprising would rather aggravate the precarious situation.
Obiozor had alson urged the Federal Government to reconsider the use of force in solving ongoing national crises.
Ogbonnia in yesterday’s statement said: “Ohanaeze considers the use of dialogue and political solution as the only workable option open to the presidency and indeed all men and women of goodwill that desire peace and sustainable growth for Nigeria. Ohanaeze recalls with consternation that on May 2, 2019, a federal government delegation led by the Minister of Interior, Abdul-Rahman Dambazau, held a meeting with national leaders of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria(MACBAN), as part of steps to address the country’s security challenges. The internet shows the global rating of Miyetti Allah as a terrorist group, yet the Federal Government has met with the body in search of peace.”
He said Ohanaeze structures, including the Council of Elders, Council of Traditional Rulers, the Igbo governors,students, clerics, youth and women wings, town unions were ready for meaningful dialogue with the Federal Government on the plethora of challenges facing the Igbo nation and Nigeria.