• Imo elders’ council chair denies blocking release
The apex organisation for all people of Igbo descent in the Diaspora, WORLD Igbo Congress (WIC), yesterday, joined to urge Nigeria’s Supreme Court to order the unconditional release of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from his detention since June, 2021, against orders of different levels of courts.

WIC, in a statement titled, ‘WIC Urges The Nigerian Supreme Court To order the Unconditional Release of Nnamdi Kanu,’ and sourced from Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, on Wednesday, also urged the Supreme Court to ignore the rumored pressure on it to postpone the set date of December 15, 2023, and order the unconditional release of Kanu. It said that WIC ‘s call for unconditional release of Kanu today is on behalf of the Igbo within and outside Nigeria.

WIC’s call came on the heels of similar calls on Nigeria’s Supreme Court, which were separately made by a United States of America (USA), State of Texas lawmaker for District 139, in the House of Representatives, Jarvis Johnson, and US-based International Counsel/Kanu’s spokesman, Bruce Fein, to order the unconditional release of Kanu.

The Diaspora Igbo group recalled the recent ruling of an Enugu State High Court that ratified that Kanu is a freedom fighter and a leading advocate of Igbo interests within the Nigerian polity, ruling that the secretive classification of IPOB as a terrorist group by the Federal Government and its sub-national entities violates Section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution.

WIC’s statement, signed by its Chairman, Dr. Festus Okere, reads “It is now settled that IPOB was never and is not a terrorist entity. It has always been and remains a non-violent organisation advocating for the right of self-determination of the Igbo.

MEANWHILE, Imo State Chairman of the Elders Council, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, has denied insinuations making the rounds that he had been opposed to the release of Kanu, maintaining that there was no iota of truth in the allegation.

A statement issued, yesterday, by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA), Media, to the council, Kennedy Eweama, stressed that the assumption was in its “entirety false, misleading and lacking in substance.”

The statement noted: “The attention of the Obi of Obinugwu and Chairman, Imo State Council of Elders, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, has been drawn to a false story circulating in the media, particularly various social media outlets.”to the effect that His Majesty is among some Igbo business men and politicians opposed to the release of Kanu from detention.

“This assumption is, in its entirety, false, misleading and lacking in substance. There is no iota of truth in the story and should be totally disregarded by the public.”