Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has called on Southeast governors and other leaders to provide an update on efforts to secure a political solution for the release of the detained Biafra agitator.
Kanu is currently serving a life sentence at the Sokoto Custodial Centre following his conviction by the Abuja Federal High Court. Justice James Omotosho-led court found him guilty of offences linked to his agitation for Biafra.
Following the judgment, some Southeast leaders have called for a political resolution to secure Kanu’s release.
However, Ejimakor said Kanu had consistently maintained that any political solution must be based on honour, sincerity and good faith.
In a statement on Saturday, he said the responsibility for creating an environment conducive to such a resolution rests with the government.
Ejimakor said: “This press statement has become necessary to address the public, particularly those who latched on my recent public statement on “political solution” as it pertains to MAZI NNAMDI KANU, and twisted it to portray him as one desperate for political solution.”
He said any political solution must be “holistic” and founded on “sincerity and dignity”, adding that lessons should be drawn from September 2017 when, according to him, an opportunity for a political resolution was frustrated by the government’s resort to “Python Dance.”
“Thus, a political solution can never emanate from bended knees, but should proceed as the standard and inevitable conclusion to every agitation or conflict,” he said.
Ejimakor argued that political conflicts, including colonialism, apartheid, wars, political imprisonment and tensions between nations, ultimately require dialogue to resolve.
“Every political conflict ends around a table,” he said.
He therefore called on Southeast leaders, particularly the governors, to provide an account of the progress made on the political solution they initiated in June this year.
“Therefore, the world awaits Southeast leaders (in particular, the Governors) to advise on the progress they have made on the political solution they initiated as recently as June this year.”
