Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has asked the Nigerian government to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, stated this while speaking to reporters in Onitsha on Saturday.
The LP candidate said there was no reason for the continuous detention of the IPOB leader given that a Nigerian court earlier acquitted him, although that acquittal was overturned by the Supreme Court.
“I don’t see any reason for his continuous detention, especially as the courts have granted him bail. The government must obey the court.
“The rule of law is an intricate asset that we must cherish and live with. I use this opportunity to plead with the federal government to ensure that all those who are in similar conditions are released and discussed,’’ he said.
“We are in a democracy, and we should not be doing things that are arbitrary and not within the law.”
This is not the first time Mr Obi has publicly called for the release of Mr Kanu.
The former governor, in March 2017, asked the Nigerian government to release the IPOB leader and stop the use of force in fighting Biafra agitators.