A South-East traditional ruler has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to release the jailed leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, or send him back to Kenya where he was arrested, warning that his continued incarceration is heightening tension among youths in the region.
The monarch, Eze Ogbunechendo of Ezema Olo Kingdom in Enugu State, Dr. Lawrence Agubuzu, made the call on Tuesday during the 2026 National Traditional and Religious Leaders Summit on Health held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
Addressing President Tinubu directly, Dr. Agubuzu said the lingering Kanu matter was undermining efforts to foster national unity and progress.
“The ball stops in your court. Bring this man out. If we don’t want him in Nigeria, return him to Kenya or London where they took him from. Please do something about this. We cannot move forward as a country if we refuse to tell ourselves the truth,” the monarch said.
The summit, themed “The Role of Traditional and Religious Leaders in Advancing the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative,” was organised to deepen grassroots participation in ongoing health sector reforms.
It featured the signing of a compact by traditional and religious leaders pledging support for improved healthcare delivery in their communities.
However, the event took a dramatic turn during goodwill messages when Agubuzu raised concerns over Kanu’s conviction and detention.
He expressed disappointment that the President was absent during the morning session when the Ooni of Ife delivered opening remarks urging traditional rulers to promote national unity.
Agubuzu questioned what he described as mixed signals on unity, alleging that the same monarch was preparing to confer a high traditional title on Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Igboho, whom he described as a South-West counterpart of Kanu.
The Enugu-based royal father warned that traditional rulers in the South-East were increasingly losing credibility among their youths over the unresolved IPOB leader’s case.
“Some of us are being told to go back and work with our people, but the young people in the South-East are so agitated they could even beat us. They see us as sell-outs who come to Abuja, collect money and keep quiet,” he said.
MUST READ:Nnamdi Kanu files appeal against his life jail sentence
Kanu, a British-Nigerian activist and founder of IPOB, was first arrested in Lagos in 2015 on charges bordering on treasonable felony linked to his separatist broadcasts on Radio Biafra.
He was granted bail in 2017 but fled the country after a military operation at his Afaraukwu residence in Abia State.
He was re-arrested in June 2021 and returned to Nigeria from Kenya in circumstances his legal team described as extraordinary rendition.
Although the Court of Appeal ordered his release in 2022, the Supreme Court later set aside that ruling and directed that his trial continue at the Federal High Court.
In November 2025, Justice James Omotosho convicted Kanu on seven terrorism-related counts and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
He was subsequently transferred to the Sokoto Custodial Centre, where he remains while pursuing an appeal.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, described the summit as a landmark engagement with traditional and religious leaders since the commencement of health sector reforms.
The event also featured goodwill messages from development partners, including representatives of the World Health Organisation, WHO and the World Bank, as well as remarks by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, who urged leaders to support the forthcoming National Community Food Bank Programme.
President Tinubu later addressed participants during the afternoon session, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to healthcare reform and community-driven development initiatives.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
