Nnamdi Kanu’s Release, Necessary Step Towards National Healing – RULAAC
The Executive Director of the Rule of Law Accountability and Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, has stated that releasing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is “a crucial step toward national reconciliation and healing.”
This is as he described the disturbing insecurity in the South East as “a direct consequence of state repression”.
:”The insecurity ravaging the south is in large part, the direct consequence of state repression , by criminalizing dissent voices, militarizing civilian life “, he added.
Nwanguma who featured while speaking at the Ikengaonline town hall meeting on Thursday night, further argued that is is unfair to be pointing accusing fingers at IPoB for security breaches in the zone, arguing that the cause of insecurity in the region is multi dimensional.
He said: ”What I would consider the path towards peace, is Kanu’s immediate release. It is not a concession. It is a necessary step towards national healing.
“Releasing Nnamdi Kanu will do a number of things. One, it will remove a major rallying point exploited by violent elements. It will rebuild trust between government and southeast citizens.
” It will signal that Nigeria remains a democracy governed by law, not selective power. Peace cannot be achieved through coercion. Even in the Niger Delta, peace came only when government replaced bullets with dialogue.
“That same wisdom must guide the response to the southeast crisis. Justice is an imperative.”
Nwanguma who said he was among those who had criticized “Kanu’s rhetoric in the past for being extreme and divisive”, argued that his continued incarceration and trial cast dark image on Nigeria’s respect for the rule of law.
“The issue today is whether Nigeria will continue to ignore all court orders and deepen alienation. Or whether it will choose justice, dialogue, and inclusion as the path to peace.
“The question before us is not about agreeing with Kanu’s ideology. It is about upholding the rule of law and reaffirming that no region or citizen is above or beneath the law.”
Nwanguma said that the continued detention of Kanu “is unjust, unlawful, and counterproductive”, adding that “It perpetuates alienation and mistrust.”
“It is fuelling the insecurity that is devastating our region. Nigeria cannot claim to be a democracy while disobeying its own courts. Releasing Kanu will not weaken the Nigerian state. It will strengthen it.
”It will reaffirm that justice is the foundation of peace and that all Nigerians are equal before the law.Injustice divides nations. Justice heals them. Let the Nigerian government choose justice and let the southeast breathe again.”
Nwanguma decried what he called militarisation of the South East zone, which according to him portrays the zone as a conquered people.
“The southeast is the only zone where you have multiple checkpoints.The entire southeast is militarized with all manner of checkpoints manned by different security operators and conflating all grievances with separatism”, he lamented.
Continuing he said: ”Government has worsened alienation and despair. Every bullet fired in repression breeds a dozen more angry and alienated youths.So, what is happening is that youths are being radicalized by the violent response that the state is using to address insecurity.
“History teaches us, injustice anywhere in Nigeria breeds insecurity everywhere. Nnamdi Kanu’s continued detention and endless trial represents a legal and moral scandal.”
Expressing faith that Kanu’s release would help restore calm to the South East, Nwanguma urged President Ahmed Tinubu to heed the growing appeals for his release.
“His continued incarceration, despite the multiple court orders, is both illegal and morally indefensible. It sends a dangerous message that government can choose which laws to obey and which citizens deserve justice.
“A government that negotiates with terrorists in the north but detains a political agitator in the southeast indefinitely undermines its own moral authority and weakens national unity.
”Nnamdi Kanu’s case has become a metaphor for selective justice and state impunity. It deepens the sense of marginalization among southeast citizens, fuels resentment, and strengthens extremist narratives that Nigeria is beyond redemption.”
Nwanguma wondered why Government, seen negotiating with bandits, but could not free a freedom fighter.
He regretted that some criminal elements hide under the agitation for Kanu’s release the perpetrate crime, arguing that his release would expose such bad eggs.
“IPOB was infiltrated by criminal elements. The events of #EndSARS and the way government responded opened the way for opportunistic criminal gangs to emerge who also masquerade as IPOB So, some of these criminal elements exploit the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu as a major rallying point for their violent activities.
“There is no single cause of insecurity in the southeast.The violence is multi-layered, locally driven, and politically financed. Now, you also remember the Owerri prison break of February 2021, which of course the states accused IPoB. But evidence points elsewhere.
“Remember that all the security formations, the military, the office of the commissioner of police, the DSS, are not far from the prison. The prison is very close. It shares boundaries with the police headquarters. The military formation at Obinze never intervened, and you know how long that operation lasted.