Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukuma Soludo, has explained why he visited the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Speaking with Sam Omatseye on a TVC breakfast show, yesterday, Soludo said the move was informed by his resolve to dialogue with anyone and everyone who can help his administration restore peace and order in the state, adding that his administration has met with transporters, traditional rulers and is prepared to give amnesty to those in the bush.
He said: “It is important to have full coverage in such a way that we need to bring everybody on board. I paid him a visit and I am very impressed by what he said in the presence of Senior DSS officials that he detested the spilling of innocent blood by some criminals operating in the guise of IPOB or Eastern Security Network (ESN).
“But it’s evident to me that quite a number of criminal gangs have emerged because it’s a lucrative criminality – kidnapping, stealing etc. It has become a lucrative business for them. Every criminal gang now claims to be a liberation movement.
“One good thing is that hearing him denounce criminality, expressing regret about how things have become; he even told me he is not the one who authorised sit-at-home. And officials of IPOB have been issuing statements condemning the directive and different gangs issuing counter statements. He has his followers but all we want is peace, law and order so that we can have the desired development in the homeland.”
Responding to a question about Kanu’s sincerity, Soludo said: “Well, I don’t have the gift to know what’s going on in his mind. Whatever anybody said yesterday may not matter, anyone could learn from history. The substance for me is hearing him regret what the homeland has become and asked his supporters to embrace peace and that’s what I take away, not whatever he had said in the past. Now I have a job to do, and my primary role is to provide security for my people.”
