Reactions have continued to trail the call by an Enugu-based traditional ruler, Lawrence Agubuzu, urging President Bola Tinubu to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, unconditionally or return him to Kenya.
Igwe Agubuzu made the appeal last week at a health summit for traditional and religious leaders held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The monarch, while addressing the gathering, drew parallels between Kanu’s case and that of Yoruba self-determination agitator Sunday Igboho, who was later released. His intervention, which appeared to catch the President off guard, was widely described as bold, especially amid what many see as silence from political leaders.
The demand has since attracted praise from Nigerians at home and in the diaspora. Three Igbo advocacy groups based in the United States — the American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), Ambassadors for Self-Determination (ASD), and the Rising Sun Foundation (RSF) — jointly commended the monarch for what they described as moral courage. In a statement signed by Dr. Sylvester Onyia, Chief Evans Nwankwo, and Dr. Maxwell Dede, the groups said Agubuzu spoke truths many Igbo leaders had avoided, urging other traditional rulers to abandon silence and speak out.
They argued that continued detention of Kanu, while agitators from other regions walk free, amounted to injustice and called the silence of some monarchs “complicity.” According to the groups, history would judge leaders who failed to defend the dignity and liberty of their people.
Adding his voice, a lecturer at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Prof. Leo Obinna, described Agubuzu as a courageous monarch whose position reflects the feelings of many Igbo. He questioned why Kanu remained in detention despite similarities with other cases.
Several lawyers, including Godwin Chinonye and Okezie Ohajuruka, also praised the monarch, describing his remarks as principled and timely. A former president-general of Kanu’s Afaraukwu community, Ikechukwu Ndubueze, echoed the call, urging Igbo leaders to speak out until Kanu is released.
