Bashir Ahmad on Nnamdi Kanu release betrayal

Bashir Ahmad on Nnamdi Kanu release betrayal

Bashir Ahmed, a former media aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has sharply condemned calls for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). He described such demands as “a grave betrayal to the countless victims of IPOB’s brutality.”

In his remarks, Bashir Ahmad emphasized that calls for Kanu’s freedom ignore the suffering caused by violence allegedly fomented by IPOB. He accused Kanu of inciting violence, orchestrating killings, and unleashing destruction across the South East, saying that the damage tore families apart and destabilized communities.

Ahmad stressed that he has never supported pardoning those he considers terrorists. He compared the devastation allegedly caused by IPOB under Kanu’s leadership to what he witnessed in the Boko Haram insurgency. For him, any release without genuine rehabilitation would amount to betraying those who lost loved ones and communities torn apart.

He concluded that pardoning or releasing Kanu without accountability would be unjust, particularly given the resources, time, and lives expended to apprehend and prosecute him.