I’ll Facilitate Kanu’s Release If Biafra Radio, Sit-At-Home Order Cease — Satguru Maharaj

Founder of One Love Family, Satguru Maharaj, has said that he was willing to help facilitate the release of the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, provided certain conditions were met, including the stoppage of Biafra Radio broadcasts and the suspension of the sit-at-home directive in the South-East.

Maharaj Ji made the remarks during an interview on his temple’s in-house radio station on Wednesday, where he maintained that Kanu was culpable of the terrorism allegations levelled against him, adding that such offences ordinarily attract the death penalty under the law.

“We are, however, grateful that the matter has been put on hold in the sense that, by the accusations, it is always going to be death, looking at the level of crimes attached to him, with the way and manner the constitution is written. Anybody who is accused of doing such a thing (terrorism) is sentenced to death. It is only out of grace that Kanu was able to escape.

“So now it has to be by political settlement before he (Kanu) can be released, and it will be addressed in so many ways. For anyone advocating for his pardon, they have to take positive steps. In other words, they must not do so with empty hands; they should stop the Biafra radio wherever it is. Secondly, the sit-at-home order should be stopped, and the judgment should be accepted while the Igbo elders go behind the scenes to analyse and explain to the President.

“Today, the Igbos have been brought to the central realms of politics by Tinubu. And the Northern caliphate is not happy about it. They are not excited about the commission they were given…They should stop the propaganda that the East is about to be Islamised. When those are done, I know how to watch it out, Kanu will come out. I will help facilitate his release.“

The cleric also added his voice to those of Abia State Governor Alex Otti, activist Omoyele Sowore and other South-East leaders in pressing for a political pathway to Kanu’s release, assuring residents that “all hope is not lost.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Governor Otti held talks with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House in Abuja, shortly after visiting Kanu at the Sokoto correctional facility where he is currently serving his sentence.

The meeting was reportedly part of ongoing efforts aimed at securing Kanu’s eventual release.

Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment after Justice James Omotosho found him guilty on counts one, two, four, five and six bordering on terrorism-related offences.

He was also handed a 20-year jail term on count three and a five-year sentence on count seven, both without the option of a fine, following his conviction on all seven counts.