Elders from the Old Eastern Region have gone spiritual and also seek UN intervention in the release of the detained Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The elders stormed Kanu’s ancestral home at Afaraukwu Ibeku Umuahia, Abia State, on Tuesday to seek divine intervention.
The elders who came from the nine states of the defunct Eastern Region, engaged in intensive prayers in Kanu’s home.
They were said to have surrounded the grave side of Kanu’s late parents, HRH Eze Israel, and Ugoeze Kanu.
Kanu was arrested and extradited from Kenya in June 2021, and had since been detained at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS.
His family and lawyers have challenged his arrest and continued detention but the federal government has refused to let him go.
Addressing newsmen later after the prayers, Bishop Dr Yek Honeys Kings who read from a prepared text, appealed to the international community to prevail on the Federal Government of Nigeria to release Kanu in honour of the United Nations Opinion, and various court judgements ordering his unconditional release.
The text which was jointly signed by Chief Agonsi Ebere, and Aniekan Ekanem, on behalf of the Elders, noted with concern the deplorable health condition of Kanu which it said would worsen if no urgent intervention came his way.
It read in part:”Mazi Kanu is gravely ill with three-life threatening serious heart condition, hypertension and low potassium levels. All of these conditions demand specialist medical care and complex medical intervention that are not available at the facility where he is currently detained.”
The elders regretted that the federal government had turned down every request for independent specialist medical attention to Kanu.
It further read: “Accordingly, and particularly within the reality of Mazi Kanu’s deteriorating health, we hereby earnestly urge the international community to prevail on the Federal Government to promptly comply with the Opinion of the United Nations, particularly as it pertains to the unconditional release of Mazi Kanu from detention.