The Leader of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA in Abia State, and member representing Aba South state constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Obinna Ichita, has urged President Muhamnadu Buhari not to jettison the appeal by respected Igbo elders and Bishops to free the detained Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Hon. Ichita who made the appeal in a media chat maintained that political solution remained the best option to resolve the issue of agitation for self-determination spearheaded by Kanu.

He said that contrary to misconceptions in some quarters, “Kanu is not the cause of Nigeria’s problems but part of the solution” to the core issues threatening the continued corporate existence of the country.

The lawmaker said that Nigeria should instead of persecuting or calling for Kanu’s head, see reasons in most of the germane issues he raised and look for a way of genuinely addressing them.

He, however, commended the Attorney General of the federation, Abubakar Malami for also putting the idea of a political solution to Kanu’s matter.

According to Hon. Ichita, “even if the President had not wanted to shift grounds over Kanu’s matter but because respected Igbo elders and Bishops are now involved, he should soft-pedal for their sake”.

He noted that the intervention by the Igbo leaders had a deeper meaning and wished the President could rightly decode the same and do the needful.

The lawmaker observed that the growing clamour for self-determination especially by Igbo youths is being fueled by “sustained marginalisation, political exclusion and brazen injustice against the race by the Nigeria state.”

He said that “Ndigbo are for peace and have sacrificed so much for the peace of Nigeria”, but regretted that “they are often misunderstood when they try to complain against injustice”.

Meanwhile, Kanu’s family has appreciated South-East leaders making both individual and collective efforts towards the release of their son.

Prince Emmanuel Kanu told our Correspondent that the family was grateful to well-meaning Igbo leaders and individuals for their various contributions in the efforts to secure freedom for the detained IPOB leader.

He noted that Hon. Ichita was among the first crop of Igbo political class to openly identify with the family even at the risk of their political future.

He commended the lawmaker and those like him for their numerous interventions towards achieving lasting peace and justice in the region without politicizing the process.