Atiku joins Sowore’s campaign for Nnamdi Kanu’s release

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has declared his support for activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore’s campaign demanding the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

Sowore, in a post on his official X handle on Wednesday, had urged prominent figures from the South-East, including Labour Party’s Peter Obi, Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo, and Atiku, to move beyond rhetoric and physically march to Aso Rock to demand Kanu’s release.

“I challenge every politician or person of good conscience from the Southeast who says they want Nnamdi Kanu released to stop the rhetoric. Time for action is now. Let’s march to Aso Rock Villa,” Sowore wrote, adding that he was willing to set aside political differences for the cause.

Responding on Thursday, Atiku described Kanu’s continued detention as “an open sore on our nation’s conscience” and “a stain on our belief in the rule of law.” He condemned the Federal Government’s disobedience of court orders granting Kanu bail, calling it “an abuse of power and an assault on justice.”

“I, therefore, lend my voice in full support of the campaign led by Yele Sowore for his immediate release or due prosecution,” Atiku stated. “We fail as patriots if we allow Kanu’s case to fester as yet another wound this nation refuses to heal.”

Meanwhile, Sowore announced that the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest march to Aso Rock Villa will take place on October 20 at 7 a.m.

Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned Kanu’s terrorism-related trial to October 16, pending the completion of a medical assessment by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA.