Pan Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has called on the federal government of Nigeria to release Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu.
Describing the two personalities as prisoners of conscience, Ohanaeze said the government is pampering the real terrorists and going after those making demands within the law.
The group’s statement issued on Tuesday by Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the Secretary-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide accused the government of intentionally allowing terrorism to grow for selfish political reasons, adding that the government could end terrorism and banditry if it wanted to.
Ohanaeze also accused the government and security operatives of clandestinely trying to clear the way for criminal Fulani herdsmen and terrorists to overrun the south with the arrest of the two agitators.
It, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order the unconditional release of the two agitators.
The statement said, “endless pampering of Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, and killer herdsmen is the route that will surely bring catastrophe to the North and will be a great threat to the corporate existence of the country.”
He added that the arrests of Igboho and Kanu are clear indications that the government has the capacity to end terrorism in the country.
“The interceptions of Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu signify that those who promote the consciousness of Nigerians are detained while the terrorists, bandits, and killer herdsmen are furnished with cover-ups by Northern leadership to destabilize the South for their heinous political purposes.”
“We, therefore, call for the unconditional release of the “Prisoners of Conscience”, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho, as there is no evidence on the ground of possible arrests of Northern terrorists and bandits who have abducted school children, maimed Southern Nigerian farmers, and murdered security agents.
“Nnamdi Kanu and Igboho are not murderers, they should be released without further delay,” the Igbo group demanded.
Naija News reports while the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami has confirmed the re-arrest and repatriation of Nnamdi Kanu, the government is yet to speak on the reported arrest of Sunday Igboho in Benin Republic.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News