Bianca Ojukwu Canvasses Release Of Nnamdi Kanu At U.S. Conference, Says Igbo People's Businesses No Longer Safe In Nigeria
Ojukwu, who made the call during her keynote address at the Annual National Conference and Convention of the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) in Dallas, Texas in the United States of America, noted that a competent court had declared Kanu free.
Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, wife of the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has called for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Ojukwu, who made the call during her keynote address at the Annual National Conference and Convention of the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) in Dallas, Texas in the United States of America, noted that a competent court had declared Kanu free.
In the address which was released to journalists in Enugu on Tuesday, Ojukwu's widow decried that Igbo people and their businesses are no longer safe in all parts of Nigeria.
AVID is a congregation of American citizens, both men and women of Igbo extraction who are military officers and veterans who have served in various branches of the United States Military at different times, in different conflicts and at different theatres of war.
Ojukwu said that “only when the leaders in Igboland rise up, jettison their perceived conspiracy of silence and confront the truth will there be the slightest possibility of healing and recovery from the unfortunate condition which Igboland currently finds itself in."
The former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain said the task of confronting the Leviathan can only start when "we come to terms with the fact that It is the neglect of the leadership in Igboland to effectively highlight and address the blatant marginalization of Ndigbo through the years that created the vacuum which led to the emergence of Nnamdi Kanu, and then proceed to make the necessary amends."
She called for greater synergy among the governors of the South-East and urged them to continue to intensify efforts towards the release of IPOB leader.
Ojukwu explained that their (Igbo leaders) initial conspiracy of silence and nonchalant attitude towards his (Kanu) illegal rendition and continued unlawful incarceration contributed greatly towards inflaming the tensions within the South-East region today.
Ojukwu, who was the special guest at the event, said: “This nonchalant attitude also brought about the unforeseen consequences of opportunistic criminal elements not even remotely connected with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) coming into the picture".
“Today, they (opportunistic criminal elements) are masquerading as freedom fighters to perpetuate the most heinous crimes in Southeastern Nigeria,” she said.
The President of AVID, Dr Sylvester Onyia, restated the resolve and commitment of the organisation towards a safe, prosperous and peaceful Igboland, their homeland of origin.
Onyia said that the continued detention of Kanu in spite of the court's order that he should be released was of grave concern to the organization.
He lamented that Igbo people are anxious about the inability of the Nigerian Government to secure their lives, properties and investments in their states of residence and businesses in other parts of the country.
He also expressed the organization’s concerns about the current hardship being experienced by Nigerians as a whole, and the marginalisation and insecurity in Igboland that had been exacerbated by anti-people policies.
“These have caused nothing but suffering and a heightened sense of hopelessness among the people,” he said.
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