President Muhammadu Buhari says he cannot release Nnamdi Kanu because that would be interfering with the judiciary.
Speaking in an interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, President Buhari explained that Kanu, leader of the proscribed, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) should defend himself in court.
Kanu is being held by the Department of State Security (DSS) after he was arrested in Kenya by the Interpol.
Asked if he would help secure the release of Kanu, President Buhari said, “There won’t be any political solution for Nnamdi Kanu. He must defend himself, I’ve given him the opportunity to do that,” Buhari said.
Kanu was first arrested in 2015 on charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, managing an unlawful society, publication of defamatory matter, illegal possession of firearms, and improper importation of goods, among others.
He was initially detained and arraigned in court, but he fled the country in 2017 after he was granted bail for medical reasons.
The embattled IPOB leader was later sighted in Israel, but he was intercepted on June 27 and repatriated to Nigeria to face the charges for which he was arrested – about four years since he jumped bail.
His repatriation followed an operation conducted by Nigerian security operatives in collaboration with international partners.
