Release my ‘grandson’ before I die, old woman urges Tinubu
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has called on the Federal Government to review the sentencing of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
 
Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 20, 2025, on treason-related charges. IPOB had rejected the conviction and the sentencing.
 
In a statement yesterday, IPOB’s Welfare Coordinator, Chinedum Michael, expressed concern about the legal basis of the conviction.

The group asserted that Kanu, who was renditioned from Kenya, should not have been tried under a repealed law.
 
“After being declared innocent, discharged, and acquitted in 2022, Kanu stood in court and refused to be tried under a repealed law,” Michael said, adding that Section 36(12) of the Nigerian Constitution states that a person cannot be prosecuted for an offence not defined and in force at the time of trial.
 
Michael urged the Nigerian government to facilitate a review of the case, emphasising the importance of upholding legal standards.
 
“It is time for Nigeria to begin to take itself seriously. It is time for Nigeria to start obeying its own laws. It is time for justice to prevail,” he said.
 
Meanwhile, emotion heightened at Isama Afaraukwu Ibeku, Umuahia North Local Council Area of Abia State, at the weekend, when a 99-year-old community member, Mrs Serah Oparaocha, urged President Bola Tinubu to release Kanu to her, whom she described as her grandson, before her death.
 
This is as Kanu’s relatives have renewed call for his release following a solemn assembly and press briefing held at Ugwu Ugba, the ancestral village square in Afaraukwu, where community leaders deliberated on what they described as the “travails” of their son.
 
Addressing the assembly, the nonagenarian said she would want to behold Kanu again in the community before joining her ancestors.

She said: “Please tell the President to release my grandson so I can see him again before I meet my creator. If he does that, it will be a wonderful parting gift for me.”

The clan comprising Etitinabu Na Ndagbo kindred said the prolonged incarceration of their son has traumatised his immediate family and plunged the entire community into emotional distress.