Creating Anioma State, freeing Nnamdi Kanu will restore peace in South-East – Nigerian Senator

The Senator representing Delta North in the National Assembly, Ned Nwoko, has said that lasting peace will return to the South-East once the Federal Government addresses what he described as long-standing feelings of marginalisation in the region.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the lawmaker argued that the creation of Anioma State and the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, are key steps toward ending the agitation and instability in the zone.

“The problem in the South-East has to do with the perceived injustice by successive governments,” Nwoko said. “So, what needs to be done, and it’s one of the reasons I am here today, is the creation of a new state to make up the number to six, and then the release of Nnamdi Kanu. By the time you do these two things, I am almost certain that peace will return to the South-East.”

The region has witnessed recurring unrest in recent years following the IPOB’s push for an independent state of Biafra. Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in June 2021, faces terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

There have been persistent calls from political and community leaders across the South-East for a political resolution to Kanu’s case. Senator Nwoko echoed this sentiment, insisting that the IPOB leader “is being held in custody unjustly” and linking his detention directly to the instability in the region.

The lawmaker also expressed optimism about the creation of Anioma State, which he proposes to be carved out of the present Delta State to become the sixth state in the South-East.

“Now, what has happened is that the National Assembly has put together a committee to decide which state to choose. There are about seven states from the South-East, and we are one of them. At the public hearing in Enugu, we also presented our case, so I am almost certain that we will be chosen,” he stated.

Nwoko further expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu would support the creation of the state, describing it as a move that would bring balance to the region’s political representation and serve as “the best gift” to the people of Anioma and the Igbo nation at large.