Abia State Governor Alex Otti says efforts are ongoing to secure the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), adding that the process began during Kanu’s trial.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday sentenced Kanu to life imprisonment on terrorism charges. Justice James Omotosho convicted him on multiple counts, including inciting violence, belonging to a proscribed organisation, and threatening attacks on Nigerian and foreign targets.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, Governor Otti said: “While Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is free to appeal his conviction, I am pleased to inform you that I have activated, and will continue to implement, the agreed strategy until his freedom is secured.”
He added that he had briefed relevant authorities on the understandings reached during his visit to Kanu while he was in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja.
Otti criticised the government’s early handling of IPOB-related grievances, insisting that a political solution remains the best path to lasting peace. “The poor management of the IPOB issue in its early stages created the challenges we face today. We cannot allow it to fester or escalate into a larger, more dangerous crisis,” he said.
He warned politicians against exploiting Kanu’s situation for personal gain, urging collaboration instead. “I appeal to those seeking to play petty politics with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s plight to abandon that approach and work with us to secure his freedom,” he said. “I am also willing to work with well-meaning Nigerians who genuinely want this issue resolved by pushing for his release through diplomacy and dialogue with the federal government—which, though not responsible for creating this problem, has the courage and capacity to resolve it.”
The governor noted that the case has caused widespread distress in Abia and beyond, recalling the September 2017 military invasion of Kanu’s family home that resulted in deaths and the destruction of property. “I strongly condemned that avoidable act and appealed for dialogue as the most effective means of addressing the IPOB question,” he added.
