The son of the immediate past President-General of Ohaneze Ndi-Igbo, Late Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Jide, has said his father died after a visit to the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, at the Department of State Services (DSS) custody.
Naija News recalls that the elder statesman died at age 82 on July 24, 2024, and was buried on November 2, 2024.
In an interview with journalists on Sunday, Jide thanked the government at all levels for their roles during his father’s funeral. He noted that his father’s last trip was to Abuja, where he visited Nnamdi Kanu at the DSS facility.
Jide said security operatives compelled his father to walk instead of being driven into the premises.
He pointed out that it was after the visit that Iwuanyanwu collapsed in his house and was rushed to the hospital, but he never came back alive.
He said, “While at the DSS headquarters in Abuja where Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is being held, the security operatives at the gate denied him from being driven into the premises. They said the only condition for him to achieve his mission there was for him to walk down and he obliged.”
Jide appealed to the government to honour his father’s dying wish by granting Kanu’s release.
According to him, his father believed that Kanu’s release would restore peace, revive business activities, end the Monday sit-at-home, and emancipate the Southeast from the dark days of the past few years.
He also thanked the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kanu, who, he noted, was constantly discussing two major issues with his late dad: Kanu’s release and the establishment of the South East Development Commission.
While thanking the federal government under President Bola Tinubu for granting the South East Development Commission, He appealed to him for the release of Kanu, stressing that this request, if granted, would be a worthy honour and respect to the late revered Igbo leader.
