Banditry vs Agitation: Onoh demands release of Kanu, Sunday Igboho’s pardon

Former SouthEast spokesman for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Denge Josef Onoh, has appealed to the President for the immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). He also asked that the government remove from criminal wanted list, the self-determination activist and advocate for an independent Yoruba Nation, […]

Former SouthEast spokesman for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Denge Josef Onoh, has appealed to the President for the immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

He also asked that the government remove from criminal wanted list, the self-determination activist and advocate for an independent Yoruba Nation, Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho)

Onoh said it is soul searching that the government prosecutes political agitators while it reconciles with identified criminals.

Onoh in a statement released in Abuja, on Thursday, said his plea is rooted in the imperatives of fairness, national reconciliation, and the restoration of public trust in institutions amid escalating threats to the Nation’s collective security.

Onoh said he was provoked by the recent peace deals brokered between elements of the federal and state governments and notorious bandit kingpins, and most egregiously, the acceptance of a “peace agreement” by Isiya Kwashen Garwa, one of Nigeria’s 19 most-wanted terrorists, in Katsina State.

He said the encounter represents a grave miscarriage of justice and a blatant violation of constitutional order.

Onoh further said that these deals, often conducted under the guise of community negotiations in places like Faskari and Batsari Local Government Areas, granted impunity to criminals who have orchestrated unimaginable horrors, while agitators such as Kanu languish in detention for advocating non-violently for self-determination.

“Such arrangements, which have seen bandits surrender token weapons like a handful of AK-47 rifles in exchange for de facto amnesty, fly in the face of Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees the right to life, and the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, which demands accountability for acts of terror.”

Onoh went on to say that the actions undermine the rule of law, embolden criminality, and erode the moral authority of the state, as rightly condemned by voices such as Senator Shehu Sani, who decried the failure of security forces to eliminate but negotiate with those responsible for thousands of deaths.

“This disparity in treatment reveals systemic inequities, the entire southeast see these as favoritism, selective justice, and political expediency undermining Nigeria’s unity and rule of law.

“The atrocities perpetrated by these bandits, particularly under Garwa’s command, dwarf any actions attributed to Kanu or Igboho, rendering their continued persecution not just disproportionate but hypocritical.

“Garwa’s gang has been directly linked to the massacre of 34 worshippers in Katsina state, relentless kidnappings across Katsina, Zamfara, and neighboring states, and coordinated raids that have left communities in Faskari and beyond in perpetual fear.”

He recalled that in the first half of 2025 alone, bandits and insurgents killed at least 2,266 Nigerians, surpassing the entire year’s toll of 2,194 in 2024.

Onoh further note that from July 2024 to June 2025, nearly 5,000 people were abducted, with ransoms totaling over ₦2.57 billion extracted, fueling an economy of terror that has displaced millions and sacked 638 villages in Zamfara state alone.

Recall also that in the Amnesty International’s investigations since 2020 documented over 294 killings and 306 abductions in Katsina, with daily assaults in Zamfara claiming 273 lives and 467 kidnappings in the last two years.

“These terrorist gangs the government went into negotiation were imposing blockades, rape women and girls, pillage resources, and control gold mines to arm themselves with over 60,000 illegal weapons circulating in the Northwest. Their violence marked by sexual atrocities, child abductions, and the sacking of entire communities has created ‘captive populations’ in ungoverned spaces, where civilians live under de facto bandit rule.

“I challenge the government or any Nigerian to provide any evidence against Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho of such crime. In essence, the government’s northern pragmatism versus southern repression perpetuates division, rewarding violence in one region while criminalizing dissent in another-a politically incorrect but evident bais rooted in ethnic power dynamics.”

Onoh told President Tinubu that true equity demands uniform application to negotiate with all or prosecute all, stating that in stark contrast, the actions of Mazi Kanu and Chief Igboho have been those of vocal advocates for regional autonomy, not architects of mass murder or extortion.

He said that the Simon Ekpa led Eastern security Network (ESN) which unleashed killings and atrocities in the southeast should be separated from IPOB as they have no connection.