President Muhammadu Buhari Friday reiterated that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, must defend himself in court.
The president said this while responding to appeals for the release of the detained IPOB leader by South East traditional, religious and political leaders during a town hall meeting with Buhari in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
Like what they deed when they visited the president at the Villa some months back, the South East leaders pleaded with Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu by deploying the political solution in resolving his trial bothering on treasonable felony and terrorism, offences he allegedly committed in the course of his separatist campaigns.
The meeting with the South East leasers was the last official engagement of the president, who was on a two-day working visit to Ebonyi.
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The president, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation in the region, reiterating his directive to security agencies to ‘‘flush out’’ those perpetrating violence in the land.
Speaking at the meeting in Abakaliki, President Buhari promised that the federal government would deploy its strength to protect innocent and hardworking Nigerians from terrorists and those causing a breakdown of law and order in the South East region.
While responding to appeals by traditional, religious, and political leaders in the region for the release of Kanu, the president said, ‘‘I have listened carefully to the various appeals from the elders to the traditional leaders regarding a wide range of options, and as I said previously that this matter remained in the full purview of the courts, where it will be properly adjudicated.
‘‘My worry is for our hardworking and innocent civilians, for whom life is already tough and who would like to earn a decent and honest living. There are many that fit this profile, and the government owes them that obligation to protect lives and property.
‘‘I will once again repeat that no one has the right to carry an AK-47, and anyone seen in any part of the country doing so and is not a law enforcement officer is a threat to our peaceful coexistence and should be treated as such,’’ Buhari said.
