After Eze-Igbo was arrested following his threat to invite IPOB to Lagos, several attempts and appeals have been made to secure his release but the chief has spent weeks in detention.
The Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has said that the "president-elect", Bola Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State must release the detained Eze Igbo of Ajao Estate, Fredrick Nwajagu, because the chieftain was only joking over his threat to invite the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to Lagos.
Ohanaeze through its Secretary-General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, on Monday said that Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu should facilitate Nwajagu’s release in the interest of national unity and reconciliation.
Recall that Nwajagu was arrested in March after he threatened to invite IPOB to Lagos to protect Igbos living in Lagos following a series of attacks on Igbos and their businesses in the state during and after the March 18th governorship election.
Tinubu’s popular loyalist, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, had also threatened Igbos in Lagos before the March 18th governorship election to stay indoors on the election day if they did not want to vote the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidates or be ready to be dealt with.
Many Igbos who came out to vote were reportedly attacked and the attacks continued after the election with the burning down of an Igbo-populated markets in the state, but MC Oluomo later claimed that he was merely joking with the threat.
Though the video footage of MC Oluomo’s threat went viral on the internet, the police said they were investigating the threat and asked Nigerians who had evidence against MC Oluomo to bring it up against him.
After Eze-Igbo was arrested following his threat to invite IPOB to Lagos, several attempts and appeals have been made to secure his release but the chief has spent weeks in detention.
Calling for Nwajagu’s release, Isiguzoro said the detainee only cracked a joke like MC Oluomo did during the election.
Daily Post quoted Isiguzoro as saying that “The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is still worried that a traditional ruler, Nze-Igbo, in Lagos State, who was only cracking jokes, has not been released.
“He has told us through his emissary that he was only cracking a joke, and we want to tell the governor of Lagos State and the President-elect that Igbos are begging on behalf of Eze-Igbo that they should facilitate his release because he was only cracking a joke like MC Oluomo.
“Igbos were asked to support Sanwo-Olu after much consultations with Umahi, Ikpeazu, and Wike, who said it’s in Igbos’ interest to support Sanwo-Olu, so in the light of the foregoing, Sanwo-Olu should start the national healing process by facilitating Nze-Igbo’s release who has been abandoned in detention and has confirmed that he just cracked a joke.
“IPOB does not exist in the Southwest; they are only in the Southeast. There is no way IPOB will go to the Southwest to cause havoc. If the police can forgive MC Oluomo because what he said was a joke, then they should release Eze-Igbo because it’s a joke, he should not remain in detention till May.
"We are pleading for Asiwaju and Sanwo-Olu to intervene in the spirit of national reconciliation that the traditional ruler should be released.”