Governor Alex Otti has formally reacted to the life imprisonment sentence slammed on the Abia-born leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, Nnamdi Kanu, by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court Abuja on November 20.
Otti said he had already activated a strategy to secure his
final freedom which, according to him, he had earlier initiated while Kanu’s
trial lasted.
“While Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is free to appeal his conviction,
I’m happy to inform you that I have activated and will continue to work on the
already agreed strategy until his freedom is secured,” Otti said in a statement
on Saturday.
He explained that he had also communicated some of the
agreements reached with “the highest authorities” in the land during his visit
to Kanu at the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, in Abuja.
Gov. Otti, who decried the lack of tact by the authorities
in handling the grievances of the IPoB at the initial stage, however, sued for
peace, as political options would be exploited to permanently resolve it.
“The poor management of the IPOB issue at the incubation
stage created the problem we have today, hence we cannot allow it to linger and
create a bigger monstrous situation for us,” Otti regretted.
The governor, however, warned politicians against playing
politics with Kanu’s affairs.
“May I caution politicians who have positioned themselves to
play petty and dirty politics with the travails of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to jettison
the idea, and rather work with us to secure his freedom,” he said.
The governor appealed to the people of the state and South
East in general to remain calm and refrain from making inflammatory statements.
Gov. Otti, in the statement he personally signed and made
public through his Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma,
expressed his readiness to collaborate with other stakeholders to resolve
Kanu’s matter.
“I’m also happy to collaborate with other well-meaning
Nigerians who genuinely want this problem resolved, to push for his freedom
through the same diplomacy and dialogue with the federal government, which
though did not create the problem, but can courageously and compassionately
solve it and take the credit,” he said.
The statement further read: “Yesterday, Thursday, November
20, 2025, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja found our son and a citizen of
the state, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, guilty of terrorism-related offences and
subsequently sentenced him to life imprisonment.
“Without doubt, this development has broken a lot of our
people and created an atmosphere of shock and sorrow in Abia and beyond.
“It would be recalled that in September 2017 when soldiers
invaded the family home of Mazi Kanu, leading to destruction of property and
loss of lives, I immediately and strongly condemned that avoidable act and
appealed that dialogue should henceforth be explored as the best approach to
resolving the IPOB issue.
“Eight days after that military onslaught at Afaraukwu
Umuahia, specifically on September 25, 2017, I wrote a piece on my Thisday
Column captioned ‘Operation Python Dance: Killing a Fly With a Sledge Hammer’.
I condemned that invasion and the killings that followed once again, and
offered extensively well-thought-out views and suggestions I felt could help
de-escalate tension and unite the nation if the then federal government was
willing to pay attention to those views.
“This is because I recognise that leadership requires
emotional intelligence, restraint and tolerance rather than force and violence.
“I still strongly believe that the poor management of the
IPOB issue at the incubation stage created the problem we have today, hence we
cannot allow it to linger and create a bigger monstrous situation for us.
“While the trial that led to this conviction lasted, I
personally engaged the authorities at the highest level, starting from December
22, 2023, on alternative resolution strategy. I must state that some agreements
were made which were dependent on quick dispensation of the matter at the
federal high court.
“Unfortunately, the matter dragged until this time. I am
confident that judgement having been delivered, the alternative resolution will
now kick in. It is instructive that this strategy was explained to Mazi Nnamdi
Kanu when I visited him while he was in the DSS Custody earlier in the year.
“I’ll like to use this opportunity to appeal to our people
to remain calm and refrain from utterances and actions capable of stoking fear,
violence and insecurity and may negatively affect the outcome of the
engagements we are already having. I have no doubt that with the assurances I
have received from the Federal Government, a resolution is in sight and Mazi
Kanu will receive his freedom.
“Finally, I want to assure our people of my unwavering
resolve and commitment to genuinely solving this problem with wisdom,
high-level dialogue and diplomacy, with a view to ensuring that genuine peace
returns to the South East.”
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