Anambra State Governor, Prof Charles Soludo, has given the assurance that he will lead his brother governors in the South-East to engage the Federal Government in dialogue to handle the insecurity situation in the zone.
Soludo said that an expeditious release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), would cushion the insecurity impasse in the zone.
The Anambra State Governor said this during a one-day Peacebuilding and Security Dialogue, held in Awka on Saturday in response to the deteriorating security challenges in the region.
He endorsed the Communique of a joint body of traditional rulers and clergy to declare Monday, April 4, as a Day of Prayer at all churches and places of prayer for forgiveness and reconciliation.
He said Kanu should be tried expeditiously, according to the law, and be convicted or freed instead of being kept under indefinite detention.
The governor pointed out that justice delayed is justice denied.
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He said the State government would open rehabilitation centres for those who dropped their arms and set up a truth and reconciliation panel to investigate and placate those who lost their lives and property in the course of the struggle.
Soludo said he is ready for total engagement with all parties, including the aggrieved, in the quest for peace.
He called on all genuine agitators to drop their arms and leave the forest while warning criminal elements taking advantage of the situation to hold the people to withdraw or face the full force of the law.
“We will engage with the good, the bad, and the ugly, we will not discriminate against anybody. We need more engagement than force in solving the problems, we need peace and security in our land to make progress, and we can’t continue to cut our noses to spite our faces.
“All churches should announce the Monday prayers,” saying “they will also signal the end of Monday sit-at-home order that had lingered for months,” he said.
In their eight-point communique, the body of traditional rulers and clergies in the South-East called on the Federal Government to free Kanu unconditionally to douse the tension in the region.
