The South East Amalgamated Market Traders Association (SEAMATA) has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to use his prerogative of mercy to secure the release of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

 

 

In a statement issued on Thursday from Onitsha by its President-General, Chief Emeka Emechebe, following a general meeting in Enugu, SEAMATA described Kanu’s life imprisonment sentence as a “rude shock” and a “miscarriage of justice.”

 

 

 

The group called on South East governors, political office holders, and national lawmakers from the region to support efforts toward a political settlement that ensures justice and peaceful resolution of the agitation led by Kanu, rather than making statements that could heighten disaffection in the South East.

 

SEAMATA recalled that the Court of Appeal in Abuja had discharged and acquitted Kanu of terrorism charges on October 13, 2022. Despite this ruling, the IPOB leader remained in detention until his recent conviction. The association criticized that Kanu’s sentence was handed down under a law that had been repealed years earlier, describing the application of the law as “malicious” and a “travesty of justice.”

 

The traders’ association also referenced past interventions by prominent Igbo elder statesmen, including the late Amb. George Obiozor, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN), and Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, who had appealed to former President Muhammadu Buhari for a political solution to Kanu’s case. SEAMATA lamented that their efforts were unsuccessful.

 

“We, the South East Amalgamated Market Traders Association, therefore urge President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to intervene without further delay through his prerogative of mercy and adopt a political solution that would lead to Kanu’s release. We believe such a move would help restore calm, reduce insecurity, and douse youth restiveness in the South East,” the statement read.

 

SEAMATA also called on South East governors, political office holders, and members of the National Assembly from the region to lend their voices to the peaceful resolution of the case, advocating for the restoration of peace and justice in the South East and Nigeria at large.

 

The association concluded by expressing anticipation for a “positive and gracious consideration” of their appeal by President Tinubu.