Dele Momodu Urges FG to Free Nnamdi Kanu, Calls for Political Solution to Igbo Agitation

Media mogul and publisher of Ovation International, Dele Momodu, has appealed to the Federal Government to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

In a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday, the former presidential candidate urged the government to address the root causes of the separatist movement in the South-East, which he attributed to years of marginalisation and deprivation of the Igbo people. His message was accompanied by a video clip of one of Kanu’s broadcasts recorded shortly before his extradition from Kenya by Nigerian security forces.

Momodu noted that many of Kanu’s critics had failed to grasp the historical and political factors fueling the Biafra agitation, which he said was “rekindled by decades of injustice and neglect.” He quoted Kanu as describing the persistent marginalisation of the Igbo as a major reason the movement gained renewed traction after the civil war of the 1960s and ’70s.

He cautioned that silencing or eliminating Kanu would not quell the agitation, stressing that the Igbo question required urgent political, not military or legal, intervention. While condemning violence, Momodu urged the government to engage the South-East constructively, saying: “Any sensible government will keep the geniuses of the South-East busy with productive engagements instead of this rabid hatred.”

His remarks come amid mounting pressure from political leaders, civil rights advocates, and Igbo socio-cultural organisations for Kanu’s release and a peaceful resolution of the crisis.