A traditional ruler from the South-East on Tuesday urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, or return him to Kenya, where he was arrested, warning that his continued detention was fuelling agitation among youths in the region.
The monarch, Dr Lawrence Agubuzu, the Eze Ogbunechendo of Ezema Olo Kingdom, made the appeal during the 2026 National Traditional and Religious Leaders Summit on Health held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
“Bring this man out. If we don’t want him in Nigeria, return him to Kenya or London where they took him from.
“Please do something about this. We cannot make progress in this country if we don’t tell ourselves the truth,” Agubuzu told the President.
The summit, themed “The Role of Traditional and Religious Leaders in Advancing the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative,” was convened to deepen community engagement in health sector reforms. It also featured the signing of a compact by traditional and religious leaders committing to champion healthcare delivery within their domains.
However, the event took an unexpected turn during goodwill messages when Agubuzu pressed the President on Kanu’s fate.
“I must tell you, Mr President, that personally I don’t feel very happy because you were not here in the morning when the Ooni of Ife gave the opening remarks and was encouraging us to work as one,” he said.
The Enugu-based monarch questioned the sincerity of the unity message, alleging that the same royal father was arranging to confer a high traditional honour on Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Igboho, whom he described as Kanu’s counterpart in the South-West.
“The ball is in your court. Bring this man out.
“If we don’t want him in Nigeria, return him to Kenya or London where they took him from,” he added.
The monarch warned of growing restlessness among South-East youths, saying traditional rulers were losing credibility over the unresolved Kanu issue.
“Some of us here are being asked to go and work, but the young people in the South-East are so agitated they can even beat us.
“They see us as sell-outs. We come to Abuja; they may think we come to collect money and then we keep quiet,” he said.
Kanu, 58, a British-Nigerian activist and founder of the proscribed IPOB, has been at the centre of one of Nigeria’s most protracted and politically sensitive legal battles.
He was first arrested in Lagos in October 2015 for treasonable felony over his separatist broadcasts on Radio Biafra. He was arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja and detained for over a year before Justice Binta Nyako granted him bail in April 2017 on health grounds.
Following a military raid on his Afaraukwu, Umuahia home during Operation Python Dance II in September 2017, Kanu fled the country. The court subsequently revoked his bail, and the Federal Government proscribed IPOB as a terrorist organisation.
In June 2021, the Federal Government announced his re-arrest and return to Nigeria from Kenya, a move his legal team described as an extraordinary rendition.
In October 2022, the Court of Appeal discharged him and ordered his release, ruling that the rendition invalidated the charges. However, the Supreme Court overturned that decision in December 2023 and directed that he stand trial at the Federal High Court.
On November 20, 2025, Justice James Omotosho found Kanu guilty on seven terrorism-related counts and sentenced him to life imprisonment, alongside concurrent prison terms on other counts. He was later transferred to the Sokoto Correctional Centre.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, described the summit as the first comprehensive engagement with traditional and religious leaders since health sector reforms began over two years ago.
Goodwill messages were delivered by representatives of the World Health Organisation and the World Bank, as well as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health.
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, delivered the keynote address, urging traditional and religious leaders to support the National Community Food Bank Programme scheduled for nationwide rollout in April.
The summit also featured the launch of the second cohort of the National Health Fellows programme and the signing of a compact aimed at strengthening community participation, transparency, and accountability in healthcare delivery.
President Tinubu later delivered remarks at the afternoon session of the summit.
