ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Asari Dokubo, prominent Niger Delta leader and former agitator, has asked President Bola Tinubu to ignore pleas for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to be released unconditionally.
Dokubo’s comment came amid pleas from some South-East leaders that the Federal Government of Nigeria should grant Kanu an unconditional release to restore peace to the troubled region.
Kanu, who is standing trial for terrorism, has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his arrest and extradition to Nigeria from Kenya in 2021.
After flouting his bail conditions set by a Federal High Court in Abuja, the IPOB leader fled the country in 2017 before he was re-arrested in the East African country.
In January of this year, the Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo appealed to former President Muhammadu Buhari to release the IPOB leader to him.
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Soludo offered to stand surety for the embattled IPOB leader while insisting that his freedom is key to finding solutions to insecurity in the South-East region of the country.
Similarly, the newly elected Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, during his visit to the Aso Rock Villa last week, begged President Tinubu to heed the call for Kanu’s release to show commitment to his promise of national unity.
However, speaking after meeting with Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on Friday, 16 June, 2023, Dokubo said Kanu should be made to face the law for his actions.
The Niger Delta leader called on the President to ignore calls for Kanu’s unconditional release.
Dokubo argued that releasing him would amount to rewarding criminality.