Yoruba self-determination advocate Sunday Igboho urged detained Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu to pursue negotiations with President Bola Tinubu’s administration, hailing Kanu’s recent scrapping of a long-standing Monday lockdown in the southeast as a positive gesture toward calm.
In a statement released by his lawyer Pelumi Olajengbesi, Igboho praised the move to lift the five-year sit-at-home directive, which had paralyzed commerce and daily life in the region since Kanu’s 2021 extradition from Kenya.
“Chief Sunday Adeyemo wishes to commend the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, on his recent cancellation of the Monday sit-at-home across the South-East zone of Nigeria,” the statement read.
“Chief Igboho believes that the move by Mazi Kanu to end the five-year Monday economic siege on the South-East zone is thoughtful.”
Igboho, who himself faced arrest and exile over his agitation for a Yoruba nation, encouraged Kanu to “vigorously explore dialogue and mediation with the Federal Government to break the deadlock in his ordeal.”
He expressed faith in the current regime’s openness: “While it is the fundamental right of Mazi Kanu to pursue self-determination, Chief Igboho believes that the current administration of President Bola Tinubu is predisposed to negotiation and mutual understanding for the peace, shared prosperity, security and the deserved respect that the South-East commands.”
The plea comes after Kanu’s November 2025 conviction on terrorism charges, resulting in a life sentence and relocation to Sokoto prison from Abuja for security reasons. Igboho also denounced opportunists fueling chaos: “Chief Igboho also urges all those who make profits from the desecration and despoliation of the South-East through violence to desist from such acts in the interest of peace and economic prosperity of the region and the nation.”
The gesture signals cross-ethnic solidarity among separatist voices, amid persistent tensions over autonomy demands in Nigeria’s diverse federation.
Neither Kanu’s representatives nor the presidency offered immediate comment.
