Actress Rita Edochie Urges President Tinubu to Release Nnamdi Kanu, Says Detention is “Damaging to Nigeria’s Image”

Wednesday, October 1st, 2025

Nollywood veteran actress Rita Edochie has joined the growing calls for the immediate release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), describing his continued incarceration as unjust, unlawful, and damaging to Nigeria’s reputation in the international community.

In a strongly worded Facebook post made on Nigeria’s independence day, the actress appealed directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging him to “deploy maturity and diplomacy” in resolving the case, which she said has cast Nigeria in a negative light across the world.

“All the right-thinking Ndi Igbo, bikonu, tetakwa nu ula (wake up),” Edochie wrote, stressing that the matter transcends ethnic politics and concerns Nigeria’s stability and credibility as a whole. She warned that the unlawful detention of Kanu is not only undermining confidence in the rule of law but is also being used by critics to portray the country as “lawless” before the international community.

Edochie argued that Kanu’s actions fall squarely within his rights under international law, noting that self-determination movements are not new and cannot be suppressed by imprisonment. “He is not the first and can’t be the last to ask for the freedom of his people across the globe. If Nigeria will be divided, the unlawful detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu can’t stop it,” she wrote.

The actress also reminded the president that Kanu has previously been discharged and acquitted by competent Nigerian courts and has won all legal cases brought against him. Continuing to hold him in detention despite those rulings, she insisted, has no justification.

“A country that makes laws and deliberately breaks the rules at will,” she lamented, “is one whose credibility before the international community is already at risk. Your bad advisers will not let you see this, just to see you fail.”

Edochie highlighted Kanu’s long record of activism, recalling that he initially campaigned for good governance from abroad, advocating for a referendum as a democratic solution to Nigeria’s structural problems. When the marginalization of his people became intolerable, she said, he turned toward openly demanding freedom for Biafrans.

“Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu has done nothing wrong,” she declared. “He is just a freedom fighter asking for his people to be free since the union called Nigeria allegedly doesn’t seem to be working.”

Her appeal concluded with a direct message to President Tinubu: “Mr President, you have to listen to the voice of the people and forget those that want to see you fail.”

The actress’s post joined in amplifying the chorus of voices including northern activists, human rights organizations, and international bodies that have criticized Kanu’s detention.

For IPOB supporters, Kanu’s case is no longer just a Biafran issue but a national test of justice, democracy, and governance in Nigeria.