Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has assured residents that efforts are already underway to secure the release of detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, despite Thursday’s Federal High Court ruling sentencing him to life imprisonment.
Kanu was convicted on November 20, 2025, on terrorism charges—a judgment Otti said has plunged Abia and the wider Southeast into deep distress.
In a statement on Friday, the governor acknowledged that the verdict had “broken a lot of our people,” but maintained that it does not signify the end of the pursuit for Kanu’s freedom. He revealed that a diplomatic process previously agreed upon with the Federal Government would now be fully activated following the conclusion of court proceedings.
Otti noted that he has long maintained that dialogue, not force, is the most effective way to address issues surrounding IPOB, a position he has held since 2017 when soldiers raided Kanu’s Afaraukwu residence in Umuahia.
He said he condemned the military action at the time and warned in his ThisDay column titled “Operation Python Dance: Killing a Fly with a Sledgehammer” that such aggressive tactics would only heighten tensions rather than resolve the crisis.
