An association of Igbo clergymen, Concerned Igbo Ministers Commission, CIMC, has said governors of the South-East states, with the exception of Alex Otti of Abia, are not sincere in their promise to work for the freedom of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamani Kanu.
Shortly after Kanu’s conviction on November 20, 2025, the South-East governors had promised to meet President Bola Tinubu towards working out a political solution that would result in the agitator’s freedom from detention.
Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Abuja Federal High Court presided by Justice James Omotosho and is currently serving the term at Sokoto Prison.
So far, only Governor Otti, of Abia State, has met President Tinubu over Kanu’s case. Otti’s meeting with Tinubu came after he visited Kanu at the Sokoto Prison.
In a statement on Monday, Igbo clerics, under the aegis of Concerned Igbo Ministers Commission, accused the South-East governors of betraying Kanu, condemning what it described as the governors’ ‘inaction’ on the proposed meeting with Tinubu.
The clerics spoke in a statement titled ‘Igbo governors and the betrayal of Nnamdi Kanu’, signed by the association’s president, Rev. Tony Uzor.
“The Concerned Igbo Ministers Commission (CIMC), led by Rev. Tony Uzor, is deeply worried and disappointed by the continued silence and inaction of most Igbo governors over the continued detention of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“After the conviction judgment delivered by Justice Omotosho, Igbo governors promised our people that they would urgently meet President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to seek a political and humane solution to this matter. Till today, only one governor has kept that promise — Governor Alex Otti of Abia State.
“The rest have failed our people. This is no longer a matter of delay or logistics. It is now clear that many of these politicians are not sincere. Their repeated promises have turned into empty words,” the Igbo clerics said in the statement, lamenting the attitude of the region’s political leaders.
The clergymen, however, alleged that the governors are afraid of Kanu and are not comfortable with him regaining his freedom.
“The truth is painful, but it must be said:
Many Igbo politicians are afraid of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. They fear his popularity.
They fear his courage. They fear the love ordinary Igbo people have for him.
“They know that if Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is released, their years of betrayal, silence, and cooperation with those oppressing Igbo people will be exposed. That is why, except for Governor Otti, they are comfortable watching an innocent man remain in detention.”
The clerics asserted that the governors know Kanu is innocent and that he genuinely loves Igbo people and was ready to die for them.
“They know the Eastern Security Network (ESN) was created to protect our communities when governments failed to do so. They also know that criminals were later sponsored and dressed up as “agitators” to destroy the image of the struggle and blackmail the entire Igbo movement,” the statement added.
The clergymen went further to declare that Kanu had no hand in the Monday sit-at-home in the South-East. They also highlighted efforts made by Kanu to put an end to the weekly phenomenon.
The statement said, “Mazi Nnamdi Kanu did not declare Monday sit-at-home.
The people acted on their own out of pain and frustration. More importantly, he tried many times to stop it.
“In 2022, when Governor Chukwuma Soludo visited Mazi Nnamdi Kanu at DSS custody, Kanu begged DSS officials to allow him speak to the people and call off sit-at-home and any form of unrest. Governor Soludo witnessed this and even joined in pleading with the DSS. The DSS refused.
“That refusal created room for criminals — some backed by government interests — to hijack the situation, create insecurity, and then turn around to blame Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for violence he never authorised. Even in open court, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu called for an end to sit-at-home and violence.
He wrote a hand-written note warning that anyone calling for sit-at-home was not his follower.
“So how can anyone honestly claim that a man locked away in DSS custody was organising insecurity across the South-East? That claim is simply a lie.”
Urging Igbo governors to “stop deceiving the people”, the clerics said, “The South-East Governors’ Forum has promised again and again to meet the President — and has failed again and again. Our people must now understand the hard truth: some of these governors do not want Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to be free. They believe his freedom will end their political careers built on compromise and silence. But history is watching. God is watching. The Igbo people are watching.”
Appealing to Tinubu to intervene and “bring this injustice to an end”, the Concerned Igbo Ministers Commission asked the South-East governors to “either act now or stop pretending to care”.
“Igbo people and all Nigerians to reject lies and stand for truth. You can jail a man, but you cannot jail the truth.
You can delay justice, but you cannot erase history.Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s case is not just about one man — it is about justice, dignity, and the future of our people,” the clerics stressed.
‘Betrayal’ – Igbo clerics condemn South-East govs inaction on Nnamdi Kanu’s freedom
