The Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, has lamented that secessionist agitations associated with the activities of the convicted leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, have claimed more than 30,000 lives and ruined thousands of businesses across the South-East.
Naija News reports that Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, made the claim on Sunday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
He said the region had suffered devastating human and economic losses as a result of the prolonged agitations and violent confrontations linked to the IPOB movement.
According to him, public discussions often fail to capture the magnitude of the tragedy beyond confrontations between agitators and security operatives.
Speaking against the backdrop of Kanu’s recent conviction on terrorism charges, Kalu urged political figures, activists, and supporters to put aside what he termed “noise making” and instead push for a constructive political pathway to resolve the crisis.
He said political dialogue, not inflammatory rhetoric, was the most viable route to restoring peace and stability in the region.
The senator criticised the tendency of public discourse to focus solely on clashes involving security agencies, arguing that such narratives obscure the suffering endured by everyday people, those who lost their loved ones, livelihoods, and businesses.
He said, “I wouldn’t like to talk about this issue. It’s not the time for noise-making or fighting. It’s a time for sober reflection. We have to solve this problem holistically. Do you know that over 30,000 Igbos were killed? People who have shops lost their businesses.
“I used to sell my own manufactured products in Aba. I know what the numbers were. But people are just talking about soldiers killed and not the rest of them. The problem of Nnamdi Kanu is what we need to solve through political process.
“Just as the theory Bianca Ojukwu and Mascot Kalu propounded, they (people) should stop the noise and focus on the settlement with the federal government. Let me tell you. I have been working with the Federal Government on how to solve this issue.”
Kalu described the destruction as widespread and deeply personal, recalling traders who lost their livelihoods, including his late mother’s friend, whose rice business was wiped out during the unrest.
Kalu Reveals How He Pressured Buhari For Kanu’s Bail
The senator further recounted his past interventions, including persuading the Buhari administration to grant Kanu bail in 2017 and resisting pressure to stop The Sun newspaper, which he owns, from publishing stories about the IPOB leader.
He said, “I know my discussion with Nnamdi Kanu. I was the first to see him in 2016 and the first to meet him when he came from Kenya. I know my discussion with him. The DSS was there. They heard my discussion with him.
“Remember, I own the Sun Newspaper. On four occasions, President Buhari wanted to proscribe the newspaper because it was the only paper supporting Kanu. It’s not owned by Igbos. But I told the journalists who work in the Sun Newspaper to write what they see because it is a public trust.
“The then federal government wanted The Sun to stop putting Nnamdi Kanu on the front page. But I’m for free press. Louis Odion is your colleague. When he left as the Sun editor after five years, he wrote at the back of The Nation title that I was the best publisher he had seen. If you ask Femi Adesina, Mike Awoyinfa and the late Dimgba Igwe, they will tell you the same thing.”
Kalu also defended Justice James Omotosho, who convicted Kanu earlier in the week, insisting that court judgments must be respected even when contested.
He said, “Nobody should question the decision of Justice Omotosho. If you are displeased, you go to the appellate court. It’s not to start insulting the man.”
He criticised Kanu for being “unruly and unnecessarily aggressive toward the judge,” contrasting it with his own conduct during his corruption trial.
“If you remember, I was given 12 years (imprisonment), but I never insulted the judge. The other day, I saw the judge at the National Assembly when he came to be confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice. I embraced him and gave him all court seats.
“We must condemn certain behaviours. You cannot rant up in the competent jurisdiction. I take exception to it. People might say it is good. Justice Omotosho is just a messenger of the court. It is his job. If you are displeased, you go to the appellate court. It’s not to start insulting the man,” he argued.
