A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Obi Aguocha, representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State, has expressed deep concern over what he described as the unfair treatment of the Igbos in Nigeria.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Sunday, the lawmaker stressed that the laws governing the Igbo seem to differ from those applied to other ethnic groups.
Aguocha spoke in reaction to the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, despite recent presidential pardons granted to individuals he described as “drug lords” and “murderers.”
“It is unjust and discriminatory for Kanu to remain incarcerated while others who committed more grievous offences are set free under the administration of President Bola Tinubu,” lawmaker said.
He, however, called on all Igbo people to unite and raise their voices in the face of what he termed institutional injustice.
He noted that peaceful protests remain a legitimate tool for demanding fairness, saying that the Nigerian justice system is particularly harsh towards Igbos.
Aguocha added that the nation’s justics system often subject Igbos to difficulties and dehumanising experiences not faced by citizens of other ethnicities.
“In the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria, an Igbo man faces challenges that other tribes do not,” Aguocha stated.
“It is disheartening to see that while President Tinubu grants clemency to offenders, Nnamdi Kanu, who has committed no proven crime, continues to suffer in detention for nearly a decade,” he added.
Aguocha also called for empathy, fairness, and a collective national conscience to ensure that no group of Nigerians feels alienated in their own country.
