‘I cannot release him’ — Buhari asks Nnamdi Kanu to defend himself in court

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), must defend himself in court.

The president spoke on Wednesday in an interview aired on Channels Television.

Kanu is facing charges bordering on treasonable felony instituted against him in response to years of the campaign for the Republic of Biafra through IPOB.

In November 2021, south-east traditional and religious leaders had asked the president to grant amnesty to Kanu to deescalate tension in the zone.

Commenting on the trial of the IPOB leader during the interview, the president said: “There’s one institution I would not dare interfere with — that is the judiciary.

“Kanu’s case is with the judiciary. But what I wonder is when Kanu was in Europe abusing this administration, I never thought he would voluntarily come and defend himself on the accusations.

“So we are giving Kanu an opportunity to defend himself in our system, not to be abusing us from Europe as if he was not a Nigerian. Let him come here and criticise us here.

“His case is with the judiciary, let him be listened to. But people who are saying he should be released, no, we cannot release him.”

Asked if there was a possibility of a political situation in his case, Buhari replied: “No, there is a possibility of political solution. If he behaves himself, all well and good.

“But you can’t go to a foreign country and keep sending incorrect security and economic problems against your country — and think he will never account for what he has been doing… let him account for what he has been doing.”

Kanu is presently in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

A federal high court sitting in Abuja has adjourned his trial till January 19.

Kanu was arrested abroad and returned to Nigeria after he jumped bail and fled the country in 2017.

Editor’s note: This report has been updated to reflect that the president did not rule out the possibility of a political solution in Nnamdi Kanu’s case.