Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has visited the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, at a prison facility in Sokoto State, where he is serving his life sentence.
Mr Otti visited the prison on Sunday, accompanied by some government officials from Sokoto State, PREMIUM TIMES gathered.
Recall that on 20 November, Mr Kanu was convicted of terrorism by a Federal High Court in Abuja, after the court found him guilty on all seven counts brought by the Nigerian government.
The trial judge, James Omotosho, sentenced him to life imprisonment and ordered that he be denied access to mobile devices and broadcast equipment except under strict security watch.
The IPOB leader was moved from Abuja to Sokoto State shortly after the sentencing.
Kanu’s lawyer responds to Governor’s visit
Mr Kanu hails from Afara-Ukwu in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State in Nigeria’s South-east.
In a post on his X handle on Sunday, Aloy Ejimakor, the former special counsel to the IPOB leader, praised Mr Otti for visiting Mr Kanu, saying the governor had fulfilled his promise.
“May this your visit be the first step to ending this undeserved ordeal, sooner than later,” Mr Ejimakor wrote.
With this visit, Mr Otti has become the first governor to meet Mr Kanu in Sokoto after the life sentence.
Barely 24 hours after the court sentenced Mr Kanu, Mr Otti had announced that he would activate plans to secure his release from the prison facility.
