Asari Dokubo, a prominent figure in the Niger Delta, urged President Bola Tinubu on Friday not to free Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The troubled IPOB leader has been in the Department of State Services’ (DSS) custody ever since his second arrest in 2021. He is in court for terrorism charges.
He had been granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja in 2017, but he disregarded the bail terms and left the country. He was then detained once more. Former President Muhammadu Buhari had defied calls for Kanu’s release, but with the inauguration of a new administration, new appeals for his release have been made.
But after meeting with President Tinubu, the Niger Delta leader told reporters that Kanu should answer to the law.
At the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Buhari declared, “Releasing Nnamdi Kanu is rewarding criminality and rewarding the gruesome murder of innocent people.” He needs to answer to the law for the deeds and instigations he committed.
“With regard to security, I want to state unequivocally that there are major wars raging throughout this nation. The IPOB/ESN is fighting a full-scale war in the South East against the federal government and numerous local administrations, leaving many areas desolate and shutting down schools and clinics.
Away from the IPOB leader, Dokubo also discussed crude oil theft in the nation and blamed it on the military.
Additionally, he asserted that several influential cabals working out of Abuja are complicit in the crime.
However, according to Dokubo, President Tinubu has pledged to look into the claims and stop the pattern.
He expressed happiness that Tinubu has defeated these strong forces.
The leader of the Niger Delta offered to employ his forces to fight crude oil theft in Nigeria.