A former
governor of Abia State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC,
Orji Uzor Kalu, has denied saying leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra,
IPOB,
Nnamdi Kanu, had escaped to London.
Kalu was
quoted in an interview as saying that the IPOB leader escaped to the United
Kingdom through Malaysia.
But in an
interview with AIT, the former governor said, “I didn’t categorically say that
he was in London. You can read what I said in the Punch.
“When I
returned from the United States on September 14 and went straight to Abia on
the 15th because the crisis was escalating, I consulted some of them (IPOB),
the security agencies including the army, police, Department of State Services
(DSS) and others to douse the tension. I looked for Kanu to talk to him.
“So,
somebody told me he went to a hotel and I sent people to the hotel and I called
one of his relations, who came to my house and I asked him where Kanu was as I
really wanted to talk to him.
“He said
that I should not bother myself and I told Punch whether this fellow was
telling me lies or truth is what I don’t know. I didn’t say I discussed with
Kanu and he told me he had left for London.
“His
relation told me I should not bother about his safety because I told him that
what matters to me is the safety of the man.
“I wanted to
bring the man to my house in Igbere and make arrangements with federal
authorities and persuade them for us to find a common ground.
“I never
wanted the security agents to bundle him and rough handle him.
“I only
wanted to bring him to my house and wade into the security agencies and talk to
the federal authorities, which was what I did when he was in prison. I am
surprised at the attitude of Kanu because he knew all the things we discussed.”
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