Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has clarified that he was not involved in any discussions with the leaders of the South East geopolitical zone on releasing the separatist Nnamdi Kanu.
Obasanjo said it became necessary to clarify because of misleading insinuations about his solidarity visit to the governors in Enugu yesterday for the leaders’ summit.
The clarification came from a statement from the former president’s Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi.
“The meeting with them was at my invitation and of Chief Emeka Anyaoku before their summit begins. The issue of Nnamdi Kanu was not on the agenda and was not discussed in my presence,” Obasanjo was quoted as having said.
The governors of the region met yesterday in Enugu and, among other things, reached a resolution to investigate Nnamdi Kanu’s case. They resolved to meet with President Bola Tinubu to appeal for the release of the freedom fighters. But no specific timeline was given.
Obasanjo said he was in Enugu along with others, such as Chief Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, to offer his candid advice on “regional development” and economic and cooperative/collaborative development, which was meant to complement the national economic development agenda.
Since Kanu’s incarceration in 2021, when the Nigerian government forcefully brought him back to Nigeria, the SE region has been restive with heightened insecurity. Some of the violence is purportedly linked to disgruntled youths displeased that elders of the region abandoned Mr. Kanu in the hands of the Nigerian state despite repeated orders of various for his release.
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