The South-East Council of Traditional Rulers and notable Christian leaders on Sunday appealed to the Federal Government to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to them and stop the orgy of killings and destruction in the region.
Kanu, had been in detention facility of the Nigerian secret police since June after his extraordinary rendition, which triggered series of unrest in the South East.
It had also resulted in alleged killing of many innocent citizens and destruction of businesses and social activities in the zone.
In a joint statement on Sunday, the South-East Council of Traditional Rulers and representatives of Igbo Archbishops and Bishops asked the Federal Government to de-militarise the region.
They said the militarisation of the region had resulted in the killing of Igbo youths and burning of communities by soldiers.
They stated that the heightened inequality and marginalisation of Ndigbo in the scheme of things in Nigeria under the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), remained at the core of youth restiveness in the region.
They warned that until the Federal Government took deliberate steps to run a government on the basis of fairness, equity, justice and non-discrimination ‘this restiveness is likely to continue’.
(Punch)
