The South East Governors’ Forum has resolved to pay a visit to President Bola Tinubu to seek the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The governors made the resolution after a meeting in Enugu state on Tuesday, July 2. Present at the meeting were Governors Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Alex Otti (Abia), Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra), Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi) and Peter Mbah (Enugu), who met Tuesday during a meeting held in Enugu State.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, the Chairman of the Forum, Governor Uzodinma, noted that the delegation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Emeka Anyaoku, and the Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Achebe, paid a solidarity visit to the Forum.
Uzodinma stated that about the security and economic summit held in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on September 28, 2023, the forum had “agreed to implement the aspects of the report pertaining to security and economic integration and affirmed its desire to put actionable plans on the key issues agreed.”
“The forum received the delegation of the former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, GCON, and His Royal Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe CFR, Obi of Onitsha, who came on a solidarity visit to the forum. The forum resolved to visit Mr. President to discuss pressing issues concerning the south-east region. The forum also resolved to interface with the Federal Government to secure the release of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu,” Uzodinma said.
The governor’s forum also “commiserated with the government and people of Abia State, Ebonyi State, Imo State, South East Nigeria, and Chief Ogbonnaya Onu’s family on the demise of His Excellency, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.”
Recall that Kanu was arrested in July 2015 and has been on trial for treasonable charges levelled against him by the government. He fled the country in 2017 after being granted bail but was rearrested in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria in 2021. Since then, he’s been in detention in the Department of State Services facility.