Kanu’s release would end hostilities in region, said ex-Abia lawmaker 
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has pledged to provide a peaceful environment for Christmas in the South-East region, urging the people of the zone wishing to return home for the festive period to do so.

A statement by the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful, yesterday, also reiterated the group’s commitment to end insecurity in the region.

Powerful stated that its Eastern Security Network (ESN) would ensure the protection of life and property as a way of contributing to a peaceful festive period.

He said: “The South-East is a very peaceful region. IPOB encourages our people to contribute toward ensuring that the region remains peaceful. We need peace to thrive as a strategic economic hub in Africa. Every Igbo man and woman must work towards peace and security in Alaigbo. Igbo land can’t be allowed to be in disarray while other regions seem to enjoy peace and security, even if they are not exactly peaceful.

“The Nigerian government provides security in other regions but comes to occupy the South-East for subjugation. The Nigerian security forces’ presence in our region makes us vulnerable and creates more insecurity. IPOB will provide security for the land of Biafra. IPOB has called on Ndigbo to return their investments home to encourage more development for employment for Biafran youths. We are committed to making sure that the investments are secure.”

Powerful cautioned criminal elements to stay off the region, particularly during this Christmas season, stressing that IPOB volunteers and ESN operatives are working hard to make the region uncomfortable and unworkable to state-sponsored and common criminals.

MEANWHILE, a former member of the Abia State House of Assembly who was the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA ) in the 2023 election, Obinna Ichita, has said that the release of the detained leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, would contribute in no small ways to the end of hostilities in the South East.

Ichita added that this approach would also make it easier for the security operatives to distinguish between people who are agitating from those who attack security operatives in the South-East and, thus, expose society to greater danger of kidnapping and other forms of violent crimes.

The former lawmaker for Aba South Constituency, in a statement marked, “Nnamdi Kanu: Insecurity in South East; Those behind the Trouble And the need for a Presidential Intervention,” disclosed that he had, in the last two weeks, held a series of meetings with Kanu at the Department of State Services (DSS) Headquarters, Abuja, during which they discussed a lot of issues around the restoration of peace and security in the South-East. He added that any developmental effort that does not consider the primacy of security cannot be said to be robust.

He said: “In my discussion with Kanu, the last of which was a few days ago, he raised some critical issues. I believe that some of the issues Kanu raised can be addressed.

“Many are in agreement that his release will not only portray the President as a unifier but will ultimately showcase Nigeria as another example of Africans solving their problems without “external directives”.