The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, on Sunday visited the convicted leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, at the Sokoto Correctional Centre.
This was disclosed by Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, and the Biafran agitator’s younger brother, Emmanuel Kanu, in separate statements shared on Facebook on Sunday.
In his post, Ejimakor praised the governor for keeping to his pledge, writing, “Thank you for fulfilling the promise you made to me to visit your brother, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. You’re a man of your words and gutsy to boot.”
He added, “May God bless you. And may your august visit to Sokoto today be the first step to ending this undeserved ordeal, sooner than later.”
Emmanuel Kanu stated that the visit carried symbolic weight, saying, “Governor Alex Otti and the people of Sokoto have made a unified statement by visiting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
Recall that after Kanu’s sentencing to life imprisonment, Governor Otti had disclosed that efforts to free the IPOB leader were already underway, noting that a release framework had been quietly activated during the trial. Kanu was imprisoned after being found guilty of terrorism-related crimes.
Kanu was moved to the Sokoto custodial centre following a judgment issued by Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court, who sentenced him to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of charges relating to terrorism.
After the judgment, some notable leaders from the Southeast expressed hope that the convicted IPOB leader could regain his freedom through a political solution.
