Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia south, says the life sentence handed to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), for terrorism was predictable and not surprising.
Abaribe’s comments came after a federal high court in Abuja sentenced the IPOB leader to life imprisonment on Thursday.
In a statement on Thursday signed by his media adviser, Uchenna Awom, the former senate minority leader described the sentencing as a preconceived plot against the IPOB leader.
Abaribe said the federal government’s refusal to extend amnesty to Kanu, unlike other groups, made the outcome inevitable.
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“Is it not an irony that negotiations and peace deals with rampaging terrorists in the North East and North West were gleefully initiated by local, state and federal authorities, just like the amnesty to ex-militants in the South South, who were rewarded with lucrative oil pipeline contracts. This is to say that justice in Nigeria is not for the South East,” the statement reads.
“So, we are not surprised. Our people can only endure and hope for a time when justice in Nigeria would become the sine qua non.
“We have done our best; we have variously made the case for the authorities to be circumspect and at least accede to pardon for the sake of unity and inclusiveness.”
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The lawmaker said the Igbo nation now has no choice but to place its fate in the hands of President Bola Tinubu.
“We ask the Igbo nation and other lovers of Nigeria to remain calm, pray and not take the law into their hands,” he added.
“May Nigeria succeed, thrive and advance in justice, equity and fairness.”
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