Ohanaeze Ndigbo has suggested that the recent health decline and subsequent death of its late President General, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, may have been exacerbated by the arduous journey he undertook to visit to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who was held in custody.
Iwuanyanwu, who passed away in Abuja, had reportedly made the trek to see Kanu while he was detained by the Department of State Services despite the severe physical toll it took on him.
Chief Iwuanyanwu’s visit to Kanu, which involved walking over 500 meters to reach him in his confinement, was particularly challenging given Iwuanyanwu’s health conditions, including injuries sustained during the Nigerian Civil War.
This significant effort to engage with Kanu, combined with the stressful environment, may have contributed to his deteriorating health.
According to The Sun, in a statement, while signing a condolence register in Owerri, the President of the Ohanaeze Imo State Chapter, Chidi Ihemedu, expressed the group’s deep regret over the treatment Iwuanyanwu endured.
Ihemedu stated, “It was among his wishes that Nnamdi Kanu be released. He trekked over 500 meters to meet him where he was kept in a dungeon because they refused to bring him out, despite his weight and legs injured during the civil war. He managed to walk too long to get to where Nnamdi Kanu was and after speaking with him he had to walk back. You can imagine that kind of excruciating stress given to him by the DSS in Abuja. It was perhaps what exhausted him the more.”
Ihemedu also lamented that Iwuanyanwu’s hope of securing Kanu’s release was not fulfilled before his death.
Nevertheless, he pledged that Iwuanyanwu’s other aspirations would be pursued.
“None of his dreams would ever go down unrealised. He had too many visions apart from that of Nnamdi Kanu being freed, which I know the President of Nigeria would do something about it, because the greatest expectation of every Igbo person, whether in the Diaspora or here at home is for Nnamdi Kanu to be released. Nnamdi did not do up to 10 percent of what others had done. He had never carried or shot a gun against anybody for him to still be held in custody,” Ihemedu added.
Chairman of the Owerri/Mbaitoli chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Uche Mbah, assured that the various committees established by Iwuanyanwu for the development of the Southeast would continue to operate as planned.
