Calls for release of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, heightens , as Reps, Abia Assembly join in

The controversy surrounding the prolonged detention of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu, took a fresh turn on Tuesday as both the National Assembly and the Abia State House of Assembly intensified calls for urgent medical intervention and his possible release.At the House of Representatives plenary, lawmakers agreed to take up a motion later this week seeking immediate medical attention for Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his extradition from Kenya in 2021.

The move followed an intervention by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, after the member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State, Hon. Obi Aguocha, raised a point of order lamenting the federal government’s silence on what he described as Kanu’s “deteriorating health condition.”

Aguocha told the House that despite writing to the leadership of the National Assembly and the Federal Government, no response had been received regarding the urgent need to attend to Kanu’s health.

Kanu was first arrested on October 14, 2015, and charged with 11 counts bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony. Since his re-arrest and extraordinary rendition in 2021, he has remained in detention amid ongoing legal disputes over his case and multiple court orders granting him bail.

Presiding over the session, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas asked Aguocha to step down his motion for proper presentation, noting that he had invoked the wrong House rules.

Intervening, Deputy Speaker Kalu said the matter would be reintroduced before the House in the coming days for proper debate.

“Mr Speaker, I’m also from Abia State. On the issue being raised by my colleague, we will present it properly before the House in the course of the week,” Kalu said. “We will come properly so that due hearing will be given to it. I beg that you give us audience, maybe tomorrow (Wednesday) or the day after.”

Responding, Abbas assured that the House was open to deliberating on the issue once the motion was properly filed.