Former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, Mrs Bianca Ojukwu, has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Mrs Ojukwu made the plea while speaking at the 10th memorial anniversary of late Igbo leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, organised in Owerri on Friday.
She urged the President to consider the plea made by some Igbo leaders during their recent visit to the State House, Abuja, asking for Kanu’s release.
She said that Kanu’s release would demonstrate Buhari’s magnanimity, adding that the clamour for secession is a direct consequence of perceived inequality in distribution of resources and political appointments in the country.
She, however, urged governors of the South East geo-political zone to remember Ojukwu just as the convener of the event, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra.
“Kanu’s release will further buttress President Buhari’s commitment to healing the wounds inflicted by the sense of marginalisation felt by the Igbo nation,” she said.
Speaking, Mr Ahamefula Ojukwu, chairman of the occasion and son of the late Igbo leader, thanked Uwazuruike for conducting the affairs of the entire Igbo nation in unity.
He urged Igbo people, especially those privileged to occupy positions of authority, to preserve the legacies of his late father whom he described as “an embodiment of selfless service and sacrifice to the Igbo cause”.
Earlier in an address, Dr Nkem Okeke, Deputy Governor of Anambra, decried the use of violence in the quest for self determination.
He implored Igbo people to be united and fight diplomatically so as to achieve a set objective.
The event was attended by various Igbo groups from the South-East and South-South geo-political zones of the country.
A highlight of the event was the cultural dances and traditional masquerade performances by various troupes.