By Adadainfo
The Indigenous People of Biafra, Tuesday, said the delay in deciding the appeal filed by its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, against the federal government over his continued detention justifies the agitation for the sovereign state of Biafra.
Kanu had sought the determination of the apex court over his continued detention despite his discharge and acquittal by the Court of Appeals on treason, jumping bail and running a proscribed group charges preferred against him. The court had ruled in favour of Kanu on the grounds that the manner of his arrest and repatriation to Nigeria from Kenya by Nigeria cum Kenyan security agencies amounted to extraordinary rendition, hence voided.
The FG had refused, arguing that Kanu’s discharge did not imply acquittal. It therefore filed a stay of execution case.
Mr Emma Powerful, the head of media and publicity of IPOB, in a release, expressed worries that non-deciding the case amounted to continued violation of Kanu’s fundamental human rights.
Powerful stated that, “We, the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ably led by Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu, question the silence and refusal of the justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to hear the appeal case of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, despite all the accelerated hearing processes filed on the case.”
He said that Kanu’s ordeal showed that ‘the lives of Biafrans, particularly Ndigbo, are endangered in Nigeria’.
In his words, “We have witnessed the Supreme Court of Nigeria giving accelerated hearings to political cases brought before them but have kept mute over the human rights abuse of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who is illegally detained at the DSS solitary confinement or dungeon for almost two years now.
“The continuous silence and refusal of the justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to set a date of hearing on the appeals brought before them by the federal government against the discharge and acquittal order from the Abuja Appeal Court has shown that the apex court is not neutral in this case.”
He described Kanu as ‘a prisoner of conscience’, adding that he ‘was abducted and tortured in Kenya before he was renditioned to Nigeria by the Nigerian State secret agents’.
The statement added, “On October 13, 2022, the Abuja Appeal Court discharged and acquitted Kanu and ordered the Nigerian government to pay him adequate compensation.
“Instead of releasing him as ordered by the Appeal Court, the federal government ran to the Supreme Court to frustrate the Appeal Court orders and appealed the case. Over 150 days after this appeal was lodged, the apex court which ought to be the last hope of the common man has maintained silence, thereby allowing the Nigerian government to continue the torture and illegal detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in the DSS solitary dungeon of confinement.
“This same Britain had in the past severed or cut off diplomatic relationship with Nigeria for their failed attempt to kidnap and parcel back to Nigeria the late Umaru Dikko in a diplomatic duffle bag from London to Nigeria under this same Muhammadu Buhari’s military dictatorship.
“Umaru Dikko was not a British citizen, but Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a British citizen. What is the difference between the two abductees from the same tyrant? Umaru was a Fulani, a friend of Britain, while Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a Biafran, the perceived foe of Britain.
“This development should also inform Biafrans in the UK who have been granted British citizenship and British passport to remember that Britain will never protect you as their citizen in time of need.”
He said it was the perception that Ndigbo were bring maltreated in Nigeria’s polity that gave birth to the quest for the actualisation of Biafra.
He stated, “The Supreme Court has shown that Biafrans are not safe in Nigeria. These actions justify Biafrans’ quest for a referendum to decide our economic and political future as an Independent Nation. Gone are the days when it is said that the judiciary is the hope of the common man, not anymore in Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s executive arm of government has subjugated both the judiciary and the legislative arms of the same government. The apex cum constitutional court must understand that the abuse of Appeal Court orders, because it is ruled in favour of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, will ridicule them before the whole world and eventually embolden the Executive branch to become a law unto itself going forward.
“We want the Supreme Court justices of Nigeria and the British government to understand that neither Mazi Nnamdi Kanu nor IPoB will back down on the struggle for the Biafra referendum and independence.”
