By Leshi Adebayo
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, declared that he would consider the release of the leader of proscribed separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu who is currently in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Addressing some Igbo leaders who visited the Presidential Villa State, Abuja, to demand Kanu’s unconditional release, Buhari noted that the request was heavy but he would consider it.
While the President’s remarks might offer some succour to Southeast leaders amid rising IPOB-fuelled tension in the region, a northern group has kicked against the action.
In an interview with Daily Post, the National President of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, Yerima Shettima said if Kanu is released, more people like him would surface and further compound the security problems of the nation.
“Nobody in the history of this country has done more damage to this country since the civil war than this young man.
“If at the end of the day, they allow him to go unpunished after what he has done, the implication is that nobody will ever commit any offence of this nature and be punished because everybody will always refer to him,” he said.
Shettima argued that the embattled IPOB leader has showed no remorse for his actions and might even boast of the government begging him.
He said, “The consequence is that, if he is allowed to go unpunished, we would end up having millions of Kanu rising, even, if he decides not to go ahead with further actions.
“If he is allowed to go, he (Kanu) will come out boasting that he did not beg to be released. He is not remorseful and there is nothing to show he regrets his actions, and anybody can do such and get away with it; we are not in Banana Republic for God’s sake.”
