Ohanaeze Youth Council Urges Tinubu to Release Nnamdi Kanu to Prevent National Crisis

The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has issued a stark warning to President Bola Tinubu, stating that Nigeria could descend into chaos if Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is not released immediately and unconditionally.

In a statement released Monday and signed by its National President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, the youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization called on the President to listen to growing public demands for justice in Kanu’s case and for the Southeast region as a whole.

The council emphasized that recent protests calling for Kanu’s release are not attention-seeking stunts—as some have suggested but are rooted in genuine grievances over prolonged injustice.

“This movement is driven by the same spirit that fueled the 2020 #EndSARS protests against systemic abuse,” the statement read, adding that “oppression anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

OYC criticized the federal government for what it described as double standards, pointing out that while Boko Haram insurgents and bandits have received amnesty and even been reintegrated into the Nigerian Army, Kanu remains in detention despite court orders.

The group noted that Kanu’s alleged offense, advocating for a referendum, is fundamentally political, not criminal.

“Nnamdi Kanu cannot be prosecuted under a different set of rules,” the statement asserted. “While violent offenders are pardoned and welcomed back into society, Kanu continues to be denied his freedom and due process.”

The council condemned the repeated delays in Kanu’s trial and the government’s failure to comply with court rulings, calling these actions a “deliberate effort to obstruct justice.”

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OYC also urged political, religious, and traditional leaders across the Southeast to speak out collectively in support of Kanu’s release, framing the issue as critical to national unity.

In closing, Comrade Igboayaka appealed directly to President Tinubu, warning that ignoring the call for justice could destabilize the country. He urged the President to direct the Attorney General of the Federation to drop all charges against Kanu and grant him unconditional freedom “in the interest of national integration, political stability, and ethnic harmony.”