MASSOB demands Kanu’s release, Igbo presidency as Buhari visits Ebonyi today
Visit would change South East narrative, says Ohanaeze Plan for North to retain power will be resisted, say Igbo youths Again, Ohanaeze warns Igbo against supporting other regions
AS President Muhammadu Buhari begins a two- day working visit to Ebonyi State today, a pro- separatist group in the region, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra ( MASSOB), has demanded immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu from detention. The group also called for Igbo Presidency in 2023.
MASSOB made the demands in a statement by its leader, Uchenna Madu, yesterday. Kanu is the leader of another separatist group in the region, the Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB). He was arrested last year and charged to court on allegations of terrorism and treasonable felony. He has denied the charges.
MASSOB and IPOB are seeking the carving out of an independent state of Biafra from the region’s five states and some parts of SouthSouth region of the country. M
EANWHILE, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, said that President Buhari’s visit to Ebonyi State would change the narrative of South East, urging all the Igbo to welcome him.
In a statement issued in Abakaliki, the Secretary General of the apex Igbo socio- cultural organisation, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, noted that this is the best opportunity for Igbo leaders, including the South East governors, to dialogue with the President over the release of Kanu, noting that Ndigbo’s expectation is that such opportunity must be utilised for positive results.
He pleaded with the Igbo to receive Buhari with open arms, stressing that this would be one of the most remarkable visits of the President to the South East, as the President’s two days working visit to Ebonyi state will change the narrative that Buhari loves Ndigbo, and he will prove it by kick- starting the process that will release Nnamdi Kanu.