Sunday November 23, 2025
www.thenewsdesk.ng
The Abia Governor Alex Otti has announced that steps are underway to secure the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Governor Otti stated that the plan was first initiated during Kanu’s trial.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday sentenced Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment for terrorism.
Justice James Omotosho found him guilty on several counts, including inciting violence, belonging to a proscribed organisation, and threatening attacks on Nigerian and foreign targets.
Reacting in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, the governor said, “While Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is free to appeal his conviction, I am pleased to inform you that I have activated, and will continue to implement, the agreed strategy until his freedom is secured.”
He added that he had also briefed key authorities in the country on some of the agreements reached during his visit to Kanu while he was in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja.
Otti, who criticised the authorities for their initial mishandling of IPOB grievances, called for peace and emphasised that political solutions would be leveraged to resolve the matter permanently.
“The poor management of the IPOB issue in its early stages created the challenges we face today. We cannot allow it to fester and escalate into a larger, more dangerous crisis,” he noted with concern.
He further warned politicians against exploiting Kanu’s situation for personal or political gain, stating, “I urge those seeking to play petty politics with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s plight to abandon that approach and instead work with us to secure his freedom.
“I am also happy to work with other well-meaning Nigerians who genuinely want this problem resolved, pushing for his release through the same diplomacy and dialogue with the federal government, which, though not responsible for creating the problem, has the courage and capacity to resolve it and take the credit.”
The governor observed that the case has caused widespread distress, creating an atmosphere of shock and sorrow in Abia and beyond.
He recalled the September 2017 invasion of Kanu’s family home by soldiers, which resulted in property destruction and loss of lives, noting, “I strongly condemned that avoidable act and appealed that dialogue be pursued as the most effective means to resolve the IPOB issue.”