By Adadareporters
Barr Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra, Thursday, urged members of the group to ‘gird their loins and concentrate their entire energy to the cause of Kanu’s freedom’.
Ejimakor stated this via his verified Twitter handle. He tweeted, “Dear IPOB, all IPOB, don’t succumb to the travails of the moment. Gird your loins and concentrate your entire energy to the cause of freedom and the immediate release of your supreme leader, MAZI NNAMDI KANU, from the gulag. This tweet-advise is ‘inspired’. Hearken to it.”
IPOB is a pro-Biafra group seeking the actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra. The group claims the old Eastern Region of the country are being marginalised, hence its self-actualization quest.
Kanu is currently being detained at the custody of the State Services in Abuja over an alleged running a proscribed group, jumping bail and treason. The refusal of former president Muhammadu Buhari to release Kanu following his discharge and acquittal by the Court of Appeal, Abuja; as well as the ruling of a High Court of Umuahia which ordered the federal government to pay him compensation for violating his rights while on bail has made his continued detention more political, analysts claim. The Umuahia suit was filed by Ejimakor.
Ejimakor had maintained that IPOB is a peaceful organisation, and dared to sue anybody or groups that ascribe violence to IPOB to court. Quoting him, “I consider it my core duty to my clients (MNK & IPOB) to say this: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB are still committed to the principles of non-violence. As from today, if you publicly accuse IPOB of using violence to enforce the sit-at-home, prepare to meet me in court to produce your evidence.”
Sit-at-home birthed after Kanu’s arrest in Kenya and his subsequent rendition to Nigeria in 2021. He travelled with the British passport. The manner he was forcefully brought to Nigeria was described by the Court of Appeal, Abuja, as ‘extraordinary rendition’. The court therefore ordered the federal government to restitute him.
The United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also took a swipe on Nigeria and Kenya governments for what Kanu passed through when their combined intelligence forces arrested him in Kenya.
According to the group, Kanu was a victim of State persecution as Nigeria failed to provide convincing explanations with proof that he is guilty of treason and other criminal allegations levelled against him.
Quoting the group, “Noting the failure of the Government to explain what actions of Mr Kanu amounted to such criminal acts and how, and observing the lack of any evidence that any of his actions may in fact amount to such crimes, the Working Group concludes that Mr Kanu is in fact being persecuted for the peaceful exercise of his rights, most notably his freedom of opinion and expression.
“In the present case, the Government of Nigeria has presented no exceptions permitted under article 19 (3) of the Covenant nor is there any evidence to suggest that Mr Kanu’s exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression was anything but peaceful.”
It was gathered that Nigeria and Kenya are parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
