Security: Ribadu meets South-East governors

The National Security Adviser to President Bola Tinubu, Nuhu Ribadu, met with Governors from the five South-East states in Abuja behind closed doors on Monday. Although the agenda of the closed-door session was not made known, there are speculations that it might not be unconnected to the worsening security challenges in Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Imo, and Ebonyi States.

Last Wednesday, the Senate condemned the Monday sit-at-home in the South East geopolitical zone and asked the Federal Government to collaborate with the Finnish Government and extradite a pro-Biafran agitator, Simon Ekpa, for prosecution.

The upper chamber resolved to invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs (when appointed) and relevant stakeholders to conduct a thorough investigation and bring other sponsors of the act to book. The Senate also rejected a recommendation for IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu’s release, saying it would amount to sub judice as his release was still in court.

The illegal sit-at-home order is said to be enforced by a faction of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in five South-East states. The unconstitutional order was declared in 2021 to press home demands for the release of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, who was detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) and prosecuted for terrorism-related charges.