Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, has urged residents of the Southeast to adopt dialogue and peaceful engagement in addressing concerns surrounding the imprisonment of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
She gave the charge on Wednesday during the 14th edition of the Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Memorial Day Celebration held at the Ojukwu Memorial Library in Owerri.
Ojukwu noted that although Kanu had been sentenced by a court of first instance, the situation was not beyond resolution, insisting that calm and constructive dialogue remained the most viable path toward securing his release from the Sokoto Correctional Centre.
DAILY POST reports that Ojukwu annual memorial day was instituted by Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the founder of Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASOB.
In her address, the Minister called for a minute’s silence in honour of the late BBC journalist, Mr Frederick Forsyth, whom she recalled had resigned from his job to report extensively on the events of the Nigeria–Biafra civil war between 1967 and 1970.
“Nnamdi Kanu is in prison, we should not get angry and it is not issue to use knives, gun or fighting ourselves in order to solve it.
“This coming Christmas, all of us should endeavour to meet with our National Assembly members and our governors, ask them the way forward to ensure that Kanu is freed from the prison.
“Also all of us should come together, plan ourselves on how to use peaceful means to settle this matter, we should plan how to meet with President Bola Tinubu and amicably resolve this matter,” she said.
Her remarks come amid renewed appeals across the region for political intervention to address the long-running case, with leaders emphasizing unity, restraint and constructive engagement as the nation approaches the festive season.