Reports made available to Post-Nigeria, on Wednesday morning, revealed that plans are been made by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, to ensure the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, the self-acclaimed Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB .
According to the source: “I can authoritatively tell you that Nnamdi Kanu would be released soon. The freedom deal will soon be concluded.”
This came as Charles Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and Pat Utomi, a renowned Economist, visited Kanu, while calling for his immediate release from detention..
Detained since October 2015, for leading a non-violent campaign for creation of a sovereign State of Biafra, the Federal Government has refused to grant Kanu bail, even after multiple courts had ruled in his favour.
However, Soludo and Utomi on Tuesday, joined calls for the immediate release of Kanu, while condemning the killing of IPOB members in the South-East.
The duo, under the umbrella of Nzuko Umunna, also expressed regret at the increasing perception that Nigeria was sliding away from being a united country.
A statement credited to Soludo and Utomi reads:
“We are a delegation of Nzuko Umunna, a pan-Igbo group,” he said.
”We visited Nnamdi Kanu to hear his own point of view, as well as share our own point of view with him.
“We believe that Nigeria has the potential to be great, and like most countries, has its own challenges.
“Nigeria has never been more divided than now. Most discerning, patriots have come to the conclusion that Nigeria as currently structured, is destined to be a failed State.
“It is our considered view that most of the agitation is in response to looting elite. We do not condone violence.
“We note that in 2015, Nigerians voted for change. As the ruling party, the APC, has it a duty to deliver to the Nigerian people.
“So far, APC seems to have abandoned its cardinal duty to Nigeria. We are in a state of emergency at all levels.
“We demand the urgent release of Nnamdi Kanu and his colleagues, as part of the process of engineering a new Nigeria.
“No citizen of Nigeria deserves the treatment that is being meted to Nnamdi Kanu and his colleagues. Nnamdi Kanu is not above the law, and he should not be put below the law.”
The call by Nzuko Umunna, comes on the heels of another by the new leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by Nnia Nwodo.
Amnesty International estimates that about 150 members of IPOB, had been killed by agents of the Nigerian State. This has been denied however.