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Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), has described the detainment of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), as one that is politically influenced.
Okonkwo, during an appearance on Wednesday, July 3, in an episode of News Day on Arise TV, described Kanu as a ‘political prisoner.’
“He is now more like a political prisoner. The longer Nnamdi Kanu is in prison, the taller he becomes and the shorter the government becomes,” he said.
The leader of IPOB has been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) since his extradition from Kenya in June 2021.
He is currently being tried on terrorism charges at the federal high court.
There have been increasing demands for his release, especially from the southeast region.
Southeast governors, lawmakers appeals to Tinubu for Kanu's freedom
In June, 50 members of the House of Representatives urged President Bola Tinubu to order his release.
On Tuesday, governors from the Southeast Governors’ Forum decided to meet with Tinubu to advocate for the separatist leader’s release.
The Southeast region has seen a rise in violent activities by gunmen enforcing a sit-at-home order on Mondays to demand his release.
Okonkwo alleged that Kanu is detained due to “ethnic bias,” noting that he has not committed more severe crimes than other separatists whose cases have been dismissed.
“Nnamdi Kanu has not done anything that other people from other zones have done,” he said.
“We know about Sunday Igboho of the Yoruba nation agitator. We know of the Boko Haram people who say that they want a different country where Western education is an abomination.
“These people have been released, not just that they have been released; in the case of Boko Haram, they have been reassimilated into society and given plum jobs.
“Why is Nnamdi Kanu’s case different? There is an ethnic and some unnecessary bias that is keeping that man in jail," he added.