Southern political leaders under the aegis of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum have said the continuous detention and trial of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, on charges of terrorism and treasonable felony by the Federal Government was provocative and showed the double standards of the Buhari-led regime.
They also demanded a stop to any further prosecution of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo (Sunday Igboho), who is currently on a ‘conditional release’ in Benin Republic.
The group alleged that the Federal Government had no moral rights to continue the prosecution of the freedom fighters while Boko Haram terrorists were being given ‘VIP treatment’ by the regime.
The group made this known in a communiqué jointly signed by the leaders of the pan-Yoruba organisation, Afenifere; the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide; the Middle Belt Forum; and the Pan Niger Delta Forum, issued at the end of the meeting held in Abuja on Thursday and obtained by Saturday PUNCH.
Kanu has been detained in the facility of Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services for 258 days having been arrested since June 27, 2021.
The group stated, “The continued detention and trial of Nnamdi Kanu on charges of terrorism and treasonable felony while known Boko Haram terrorists are being given VIP treatments and hosted in Government Houses is not only provocative and perfidious but a bizarre double standard on the part of the Nigerian State.
“We demand, in national interest, the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu and a stop to any further persecution of Sunday Igboho, who is currently on a conditional release in Benin Republic.”
Speaking on 2023 election, they further reiterated their earlier stance that the South would not support any political party that did not zone its ticket to the south.
They also warned southern political stakeholders not to compromise this stance by engaging in actions and aspirations that would compromise the ‘shared resolve’ of the southern people.
The statement further reads, “We maintain that the basis of any viable democracy, especially in a diverse and complex country such as Nigeria, is fair and even sharing of power. Therefore, unequivocally, and in full resolve, again, call on all political parties in the country to zone their presidential tickets to the South.
“Accordingly, we call on all lovers of peace and equity in Nigeria, particularly our people of Southern Nigeria and Middle Belt region to reject any political party that fails to zone its presidential ticket to the South.
“Consequently, we caution political stakeholders from southern Nigeria against aspirations or actions that will compromise the shared resolve of our people.”
They also called on the FG to restructure the country to ‘reflect true federalism and enthrone equity, fairness and justice’ before the 2023 general elections.
They also alleged that the regime’s ‘lukewarm’ attitude in tackling insecurity in the country lent credence to the impression that they were using insecurity to ‘foster certain political agenda’.
“More disconcerting is the fact that the women and children rendered widows, orphans, and displaced by the terrorists, now being gratified by the Federal Government and its security agencies, are wallowing in wretched IDP camps.
“We also warn that the Federal government’s lukewarm attitude in tackling the security challenges in the country lends credence to impressions that this administration is using insecurity to foster certain political agenda,” part of the statement read.
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