Ohanaeze warns that Nnamdi Kanu cannot perish while in custody
The primary Igbo sociocultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has pleaded with the federal government to stop Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from dying while being looked after by the Directorate of State Services (DSS).
After a routine visit to the Department of State Service cell, Kanu's brother Emmanuel Kanu and attorney Ifeanyi Ejiofor alerted authorities about his precarious health. They asserted that despite being in a severe state, the DSS had barred the Biafra leader from seeing his physicians.
Kanu “is currently afflicted with stomach disease, necessitating the frequent use of antacids and other accessible medical therapies,” according to Ejiofor.
The DSS disallowed him from consuming even the tiniest quantity of a prescribed painkiller, which might have provided him with some relief.
Ohanaeze responded by stating that “Nnamdi Kanu Must Not Die in Prison” and that the report should worry any patriotic Nigerian with a clear head.
The pan-Igbo organization issued a warning to the Federal Government, signed by Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, asking that nothing untoward occur to Kanu while he is being held in custody.
The statement claims that the organization's President General, Ambassador George Obiozor, has repeatedly encouraged President Buhari that there must be a political resolution to Kanu's problem rather than recourse to the legal system or the use of force.
The statement said: “The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the leading sociocultural organization of Igbo people, and a number of distinguished Igbo have consistently pleaded with Mr. President to free Nnamdi Kanu on the basis of a political resolution. When President Buhari paid a visit to Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, the last surviving legend among those who battled for Nigeria's independence and the First Republic's Minister of Aviation, made the plea as his final wish.
“Before that, Mbazulike had a similar meeting with the President in Aso Rock, Abuja. In the interim, rational people will question why Nnamdi Kanu shouldn't have the essential access to a physician. This is quite intriguing and begs many questions.
“Finally, it is well known that Nnamdi Kanu's imprisonment has really increased the level of instability in the South-East, and one worries what will happen if Nnamdi Kanu is victimized unnecessarily or utterly carelessly in the future.”