Key Points

• UNIEC warns Igbo silence weakens leadership credibility and authority.
• Council raises due process concerns in Kanu’s ongoing detention.
• Elders urge diplomatic engagement with the Federal Government.

Justice Alpha Ikpeama has a blunt message for Igbo leaders watching the Nnamdi Kanu case from a safe distance: silence is not neutrality. It is abdication.

As director-general of the United Igbo Elders Council Worldwide, Ikpeama signed a statement this week calling the ongoing detention and prosecution of Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, something far larger than a routine legal matter. The council described it as a critical test of leadership responsibility, constitutional fidelity and national inclusiveness within the Nigerian federation.

The statement stopped short of taking a position on Kanu’s guilt or innocence. Instead, it zeroed in on process: how the case is being handled, whether due process is being honored and whether jurisdictional standards are being applied consistently.

Silence has a cost

The council acknowledged that the Federal Government frames the Nnamdi Kanu case as a matter of national security. But UNIEC said that framing does not resolve persistent questions around due process, jurisdictional consistency and compliance with human rights standards.

“Continued silence or detachment by sections of Igbo leadership on this matter risks eroding both moral authority and public confidence,” the statement warned.

UNIEC also noted that the prolonged detention has sharpened tensions in the South-East, and argued that coordinated engagement from Igbo leaders is no longer optional if regional stability and national cohesion are to hold.

A call for unity, not rhetoric

The council urged what it called the Igbo “Who is Who” to engage the Federal Government through lawful and diplomatic channels, support credible legal processes and address the deeper sources of agitation driving unrest in the region.

Ikpeama’s statement was careful to frame the council’s position not as endorsement of IPOB’s ideology but as a defense of principle. Due process, it argued, is not a partisan issue. It is the foundation on which any credible response to the region’s tensions must be built.

Finally, “To remain silent is to concede relevance. To act with unity and purpose is to shape outcomes and secure the future,” the council concluded.