A Niger Delta activist, Asari Dokubo, yesterday pleaded with President Bola Tinubu not to release Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The embattled IPOB leader has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in 2021. He is facing terrorism charges.
In 2017, a Federal High Court in Abuja granted him release, but he violated the bail restrictions and departed the country. He was later arrested again. Former President Muhammadu Buhari had rejected requests to release Kanu, but with the election of a new government, new calls for his release have emerged.
However, speaking to journalists after meeting with President Tinubu, the Niger Delta leader stated that Kanu should face prosecution.
“Releasing Nnamdi Kanu is rewarding criminality and rewarding gruesome murder of innocent people,” he said at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. “He should face the law for the actions and instigations he has carried out.
“On security, I want to clearly say that there are full-scale wars going on in different parts of this country. In the South East, the IPOB/ESN is waging a full-scale war against the government of this country and many local governments, many communities are deserted, schools are closed, and hospitals are closed.”
Aside from the IPOB commander, Dokubo also discussed crude oil theft in the country, accusing the military of being behind it.
He further claimed that powerful cabals operating from Abuja are complicit in the crime.
Dokubo, on the other hand, stated that President Tinubu has investigate the allegations and put a stop to the pattern.
He expressed his delight that these great forces had now found their match in Tinubu.
The Niger Delta leader reportedly offered to employ his forces to help combat crude oil theft in Nigeria.
