Why we cannot intervene in IPOB’s leader Nnamdi Kanu’s issue – Senate
The senate on Wednesday rejected the urging to lead a political solution aimed at getting Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), released. The parliament said the matter is sub judice (pending before the court) and therefore it cannot intervene.
Senator Osita Izunaso, representing Imo, made the request while presenting a motion on the sit-at-home order foisted on the region by IPOB’s factional leader Simon Ekpa.
Izunaso said the sit-at-home order had caused several deaths, especially of innocent persons and properties worth over a trillion naira, destroyed.
He said, “When people are forced to stay at home and businesses remain closed, productivity declines and income is reduced, thereby affecting livelihoods and economic growth.”
He added that the protest had equally disrupted the educational system and encouraged acts of violence and string of clashes between its enforcers and the law enforcement agencies.
Izunaso told senators that the situation had increased “the potential for criminal elements to take advantage of the situation to engage in looting or other unlawful activities while the people stay at home.”
He also urged the Senate to compel the government to check the activities of Simon Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of Kanu, who issues the sit-at-home orders. Izunaso said Ekpa might succeed in corrupting the minds of Nigerian youths and turning them against the government.
In its resolution, the Senate promised to invite the minister of foreign affairs, when one is eventually appointed, and relevant stakeholders, to ensure a thorough investigation and punish the sponsors of the protests.
