The President General All Igbo Youth Forum led by Chief Chinedum Obilor, has called on President Bola Tinubu to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from detention if he wants to poll massive vote from South East zone in 2027.
Obilor, who spoke during the executive meeting of the forum in Umuahia the Abia State capital on Tuesday, said if the Federal Government fails to heed to their call, the group will mobilise more than one million youths to take a stand concerning the forthcoming general election within the next two months.
The youth leader wondered the reason behind the continuous detention of Kanu, when other freedom fighters like Sunday Igboho had regained their freedom.
He berated politicians of South East extraction for their alleged lack of interest in Kanu’s release from detection.
Obilor, however, stated that if the president heeds to their call, he will mobilise Igbo youth to support him, adding that if refuses to listen to them, he will also hear from the group.
The AIYF leader further added that the All Progressive Congress performed badly in the South East zone during the 2023 general election because of the failure of the federal government to release Kanu.
He said, “The information reaching me is that our brother Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has won his case in Kenya last week.
“We the Igbo youth decided to call this meeting to let the president know that they should release Kanu for us. We want to tell him that Kanu didn’t do anything more than other freedom fighters like Sunday Igboho, who was released from detention.
“Why must Kanu’s case be different? Are the Igbo second class citizens of this country?Are we not part of this country?
“We want the Federal Government to hear directly from the youths of the Igbo land that we are not happy that our brother is still in detention up till now.
“He has noticed that politicians, the governors, some of the senators and some reps members are part of the reason why our brother is still there. When they go to Abuja they tell the president of their personal matters. They are not in charge, the youths are in charge.
“We want to use this opportunity to tell Mr. President that what happened in the last election when the Igbo didn’t vote the ruling APC was because of the detention of our brother. We are telling him that if doesn’t release our brother from detention in two month’s time, we will mobilise more than one million youths to take a stand and negotiate with anybody or group that will release him for us if they come to power.”
The PUNCH