A South-East traditional ruler on Tuesday appealed to President Bola Tinubu to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, or return him to Kenya where he was arrested, warning that his continued detention was heightening tension among youths in the region.
The monarch, Dr Lawrence Agubuzu, the Eze Ogbunechendo of Ezema Olo Kingdom in Enugu State, made the appeal during the 2026 National Traditional and Religious Leaders Summit on Health held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
Agubuzu urged the President to urgently address Kanu’s situation, stressing that unresolved political grievances could undermine national unity and development if left unattended.
According to him, if authorities were unwilling to keep Kanu in Nigeria, he should be returned to Kenya or the United Kingdom, where he was reportedly taken from before being brought back to the country.
The summit, themed “The Role of Traditional and Religious Leaders in Advancing the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative,” was convened to strengthen community participation in healthcare reforms and featured the signing of a commitment pact by traditional and religious leaders to support improved healthcare delivery.
However, proceedings took a dramatic turn during goodwill messages when the monarch deviated from the health agenda to raise concerns over national cohesion and the agitation in the South-East.
He expressed reservations about calls for unity, alleging contradictions in ongoing political developments, including plans to honour Yoruba Nation agitator Sunday Igboho, whom he described as Kanu’s counterpart in the South-West.
Agubuzu warned that growing frustration among youths in the South-East was eroding the influence of traditional rulers, noting that many young people viewed community leaders as ineffective over their inability to secure Kanu’s release.
Kanu, a British-Nigerian activist and founder of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, has remained a central figure in a prolonged legal and political dispute since his arrest in 2015 on charges linked to separatist broadcasts on Radio Biafra.