A coalition of pan-Igbo rights activists, The Rising Sun Group, has accused Abia North senator, Orji Uzor Kalu of using the case of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, to curry favour from President Bola Tinubu.

Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, had in an interview on Channels Television, said Kanu’s agitation caused the death of 30,000 people in the South-East. He equally said he has been making serious efforts to get Kanu released from detention.

The senator was reacting to issues surrounding Kanu’s conviction for terrorism and the life sentence slammed on him by an Abuja Federal High Court presided by Justice James Omotosho.

Rising Sun, in a statement on Wednesday by its coordinators, Maxwell Dede and Reverend Father Augustine Odinmegwa, disputed Kalu’s claims, alleging that the senator is among some members of the Igbo elite who are willing to play any role to advance their political interests.

The pan-Igbo activists insisted that Orji Kalu should have kept quiet if he had nothing to say on the matter, rather than justifying what they described as Kanu’s persecution.

Parts of the statement said, “Our attention has been drawn to Sunday’s interview by the Senator representing Abia North, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, on Channels TV, where he claimed that over 30,000 people had died due to the agitation by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The former Abia Governor also during the interview, defended Justice James Omotosho over his infamous verdict on Kanu.

“Instead of keeping quiet if he had nothing useful to say, Senator Kalu chose to lambast Nnamdi Kanu over his angry reaction to the barefaced injustice meted to him by Justice Omotosho. As if that were not enough, Senator Kalu began to make wild claims of his purported instrumentality in securing Kanu’s release in 2017. He also disparaged the Igbo and all those who felt disappointed over the said judgement which can only pass for travesty of justice.

“Although we are embittered at such reckless remarks, we are however, not surprised because we know that a leopard can never change the colour of its skin. Senator Kalu only confirmed the long-held suspicion in many quarters that he is among the Igbo elite ready to play any role because of political interest.

“But what Ndigbo will not accept from Orji Uzor Kalu is any attempt to use Kanu’s matter to curry favour from the Presidency. He is only smart by half for thinking that he could resort to unguarded utterances and reckless vituperation against the IPOB leader in order to win Tinubu’s favour, possibly for a return ticket in 2027.

“It is an open secret that Orji Uzor Kalu was among those who vigorously opposed Tinubu’s presidential bid in 2023, when he openly campaigned for the then Senate President, Ahmed Lawan. Nigerians are not daft as Senator Kalu thinks. They already know the real motive behind his sudden love for President Tinubu.”

The activists added that Kalu insulted the Igbos by comparing his “calmness” during his trial for alleged financial fraud to Nnamdi Kanu’s “alleged unruly behavior” in court.

The statement stressed that Kalu should understand that there is no nexus between the offence for which he was convicted and jailed, “and the trumped-up charges, biased trial, of subsequent strange conviction of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu”.

Urging the senator to stop embarrassing himself in his desperation for political relevance, Rising Sun observed that if not for Nigeria’s flawed electoral system, Kalu will have no business in governance. “We want to warm him to desist from using Nnamdi Kanu’s matter to play politics,” the statement added.

Rising Sun, in the same vein, wondered why Kalu, who it described as Tinubu’s political age-mate, has not been able to broker a political solution to Kanu’s case, despite the efforts he said he has made. The group challenged the senator to ‘do the needful’.

“If he believes he has the powers and influence to get Kanu’s debacle resolved politically, what is restraining him from doing so all the while? As a chieftain of the ruling party, former Governor and political age-mate of President Ahmed Tinubu, Orji Uzor Kalu should not be waiting for anybody again to lead the move for political solution for Kanu’s release. He has unfettered access to the powers that be, and should leverage on that to do the needful,” the statement said.

Further disputing Kalu’s claims on the killings in the South-East, Rising Sun said, “Since Orji Uzor Kalu claims that over 30,000 people were killed in South-East as a result of the agitation by Nnamdi Kanu, can he tell the world who authorized the said killings?

“Will Senator Kalu feign ignorance of the genocidal killing of IPOB members by security agencies without any provocations? Was he referring to the massacre of IPOB members praying at Nkpor and Onitsha or those praying at the National High School Aba, or Biafra agitators massacred in Port Harcourt during a pro-Trump rally? How could Orji Uzor Kalu justifiably blame IPOB members who are rather the hapless victims of the brutality of security operatives for an offence they are innocent of?

“We warn Orji Uzor Kalu and his fellow political opportunists to refrain from further unguarded and treacherous remarks concerning Kanu’s ordeal. History will judge anyone who betrays his people for selfish gains.”