From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Igbo women under the aegis of the Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) have urged President Bola Tinubu to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from detention to curb insecurity in the South East.
The women, who made the plea in Umuahia during the inauguration of the Abia State chapter of the organisation, traced the unabating tension and insecurity in the South East to Kanu’s continued detention.
The women challenged President Tinubu to release Kanu if truly he was committed to the restoration of peace in the South East region.
National President of IWA, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, who addressed a press conference in Umuahia, said the way the Federal Government could prove that it was truly interested in the return of peace and progress in the region was to free Kanu in line with the overwhelming desires of the people.
IWA expressed dismay that instead of engaging Kanu and Igbo youths in a dialogue over their grievances, the Federal Government decided to clamp him into detention and use a sledgehammer on the agitators who, according to the women, “are mere protesters.”
“We request that you release Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally. We have done our investigations and found out that IPOB is a non-arms-bearing organisation.
“Criminals are hiding under Kanu’s continued incarceration to wreak havoc in the South East. So, his release is needed to restore peace to the South East.”
IWA queried the alleged engagement of a former militant to guard the South East and challenged the Federal Government to come out clean on the allegation.
The women issued a 14-day ultimatum to a former Presidential Spokesman and current Dr Rueben Abati to withdraw an alleged anti-Igbo comment or face court action.
IWA said Abati’s alleged claims that Igbo people do not sell their land to outsiders were false and untenable.
IWA equally noted that “the South East is militarised,” expressing worry that despite the heavy deployment of military personnel on South East roads, insecurity had refused to abate.
“The South East is under siege of sorts. Some villages have been sacked. Before now, the South East was very peaceful. We, the Igbo women, are concerned, and we want peace to return to Igbo land.”
IWA called for the dismantling of multiple checkpoints on South East roads, which, according to it, have become “extortion and humiliation points” for motorists and commuters.
The group commended the Enugu and Abia State Governors for their spirited efforts to improve security in their respective states, urging others to copy them.
On the forthcoming Ohanaeze Ndigbo election, IWA charged the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation to get things right and regain the confidence of the people.
It advised against any disruption of the longstanding policy of rotating the office of Ohanaeze President General among the seven Igbo-speaking states, adding that it was the turn of Rivers State to produce the next Ohanaeze PG.
A keynote speaker, Professor Nkechinyere Ohaike of the National Institute for Nigerian Languages, Aba, urged Igbo women to proudly speak the Igbo language to their children to avoid the language going into extinction.
The Professor of Translation Studies/Igbo, who spoke on “Reviving Our Heritage: Strategies for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture in the Face of Extinction,” regretted that many Igbo mothers are shy to communicate with their children in their mother tongue.
The immediate past Executive Director of the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Dr Godwin Asumugha, commended IWA for its spirited efforts to revive the Igbo language and culture.
Other speakers, including Pastor Nnenne Iroakasi and Mrs Ijeoma Umunna, among others, emphasised the need for the promotion of Igbo language and culture by the womenfolk.