Chief Victor Umeh, a former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari made a simple case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, too complex for Nigeria.
According to Umeh, continued incarceration of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra by the Federal Government was unjust to the Igbo nation.
The former APGA chief made these remarks in Onitsha during the 20th year Episcopacy celebration of the Most Rev. Dr Valerian Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese at the Basilica of Holy Trinity.
He said he had advised the Federal Government that the manner it was handling Kanu’s case was not the best way, adding that the matter had become too big for Nigeria to handle.
He said, “They treat Nnamdi Kanu’s issue as a personal thing. It is not. Kanu enjoys the solidarity and sympathy of Igbo people because they believe he fights for them and anything he says, they do, he is calling for the de-marginalisation of Ndigbo. He wants equality for all Nigerians. The Federal Government thinks it is Kanu they are dealing with, not knowing that they are dealing with all of us, the entire Igbo nation.
“It is pertinent for the Federal Government to realise that they are dealing with the entire Igbo nation and that has become so difficult for them to handle.”
“The issue of Kanu is a simple thing to handle if they listen to the yearnings of Igbo people to ensure justice in the Nigerian nation.
“If they do it, there will be no problem. Once the government changes its attitudes towards Igbo, we will embrace Kanu and ask him to allow this thing to lie. I know he will do it as he did during the governorship election.”
“When the last governorship election became so tensed when it became obvious that the election may not take place, they reached out to Kanu, who called off the sit-at-home and ordered that everybody should go to the election. People then became confident and participated in the election.
“They are not using the right approach. They are not. I have said this for the past six years. What I am telling you today is what I had told them for the past six years. Let them remove the hand of the monkey from the pot of soup before it becomes the hand of a human being. That is the way to go.”
“An Umuahia High Court has given the Federal Government leeway by stating that Kanu’s arrest was illegal and therefore he should be released. It is a judgement of a court. So, it is better for President Buhari to obey the judgment of Umuahia High Court and allow peace to reign in Nigeria and let us move forward.”
“If they do it, there will be no problem. Once the government changes its attitudes towards Igbo, we will embrace Kanu and ask him to allow this thing to lie. I know he will do it as he did during the governorship election.”
“When the last governorship election became so tensed when it became obvious that the election may not take place, they reached out to Kanu, who called off the sit-at-home and ordered that everybody should go to the election. People then became confident and participated in the election.
“They are not using the right approach. They are not. I have said this for the past six years. What I am telling you today is what I had told them for the past six years. Let them remove the hand of the monkey from the pot of soup before it becomes the hand of a human being. That is the way to go.”
“An Umuahia High Court has given the Federal Government leeway by stating that Kanu’s arrest was illegal and therefore he should be released. It is a judgement of a court. So, it is better for President Buhari to obey the judgment of Umuahia High Court and allow peace to reign in Nigeria and let us move forward.”