The South-East Governors Forum, on Tuesday, resolved to visit President Bola Tinubu and interface with the Federal Government to secure the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The governors made the resolution at their meeting in Enugu on Tuesday.
The meeting, which lasted about six hours, had in attendance all the five South-East governors: Peter Mbah (Enugu); Alex Otti (Abia); Prof Charles Soludo (Anambra); Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi) and Senator Hope Uzodimma (Imo).
In a five-point communique, jointly signed by all the governors, the forum resolved to activate actionable plans with a view to implementing the report of the South-East Security and Economic Summit held in Owerri in September last year.
“The Forum resolved to visit Mr. President to discuss pressing issues concerning the South-East region.
“The Forum also resolved to interface with the Federal Government to secure the release of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu,” the communique read.
The forum also expressed grief over the death of a former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation and the first civilian governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.
The ex-minister died on April 11, 2024, at the age of 73.
“The Forum commiserated with the government and people of Abia State, Ebonyi State, Imo State, South-East Nigeria and Chief Ogbonnaya Onu’s family on the demise of His Excellency, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu.
“The Forum received the delegation of the former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, GCON and His Royal Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe CFR, Obi of Onitsha who came on a solidarity visit to the Forum.
“The Forum deliberated on the reviewed report of the South East Security and Economic Summit held in Owerri on the 28th of September 2023 and agreed to implement the aspects of the report pertaining to security and economic integration and affirmed its desire to put actionable plans on the key issues agreed,” the communique read.
The Federal Government, under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, arrested Kanu in 2015 over his push for the secession of the Igbo from Nigeria.
The government is prosecuting Kanu for treason and he has been in detention since 2015.
He was released on bail in 2017 and fled the country during an invasion of his home in Umuahia by the military.
Kanu was recaptured in Kenya in 2021 and has since been in the detention facility of the Department of State Services as the court would not grant him bail again.
Many leaders of thought believe that Kanu’s release from detention would help to douse the heightened insecurity in the South-East occasioned by IPOB’s secessionist agitation.