Three Igbo leaders have been named as Distinguished Igbo Personalities of The Year 2016 by a coalition of activists from the South-East.

The three leaders are the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu; immediate past Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

The honour was made public via a statement by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) and the South- East Based Coalition of Human Rights Organisations.

The statement, issued recently in Onitsha, said Kanu: “In addition to renewal of the prestigious Prisoner-of-Conscience Award, bestowed on Kanu, who is leader of Radio Biafra London (RBL) and IPOB World Wide, earlier this year; we have again resolved to name him as one of the three Igbo Distinguished Personalities of the Year 2016.

These are in recognition of his nonviolent and peaceful campaign for the emancipation of the Igbo race using nonviolent and peaceful means. “Against all odds, he has spent 14 months in detention without trial and his group IPOB has lost over 250 of its members and supporters Over 150 of his members are presently languishing in various prisons and other detention centres including DSS dungeons across the country on trumped-up criminal accusations.

On his part, the coalition noted that Obi, “was a true embodiment of peopling governance, input and output legitimacies. “Obi was chosen as the second Igbo Distinguished Personality of the Year 2016, as a pace setter and formidable standard of performance measurement for incumbent and upcoming elected public office holders particularly the governors or federal elected public office holders.

For Ekweremadu, he was chosen based on account of his bold and courageous disposition against all odds since June 2015, in his capacity as the Deputy Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and highest Igbo Federal lawmaker.