By Adadareporters
The release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is among the demands of #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests which held from August 1 to 10 this year.
Barr Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu’s lead counsel, disclosed this on his X on Tuesday. He told President Bola Tinubu to, as a democrat and father of the nation, consider the requests of the protesters, including Kanu’s freedom, as Nigeria marks her 64th Independence celebration.
Our correspondent reports that Kanu is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, a group that has been championing the severance of Southeast region from Nigeria. He has been detained at the custody of the Department of State Services since August, 2021 after being renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria by Nigeria’s security forces in collaboration with their Kenyan counterparts.
Ejimakor wrote, “Lest we forget, the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is No. 5 amongst the demands being made in the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests. That makes #FreeMNK a pan-Nigerian issue, not just an Igbo issue. This should be reckoned with.”
Recall that Kanu had during the last hearing of his case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, asked the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, to recuse herself from his case, citing his lack of confidence in her trail procedures. The justice had obliged Kanu, and said she would send Kanu’s case file to the Federal Ministry of Justice for re-assigning. He is charged with terrorism-related charges.
Recall that the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests took place mainly in the Northern and Western parts of Nigeria with a majority of those demanding Kanu’s release being non-Igbos, hence the pan-Nigerian perspectives of Kanu ‘s release demand.
Ejimakor had earlier stated that, “Freeing Nnamdi Kanu lies with the President. The truth is that his matter is a ‘self-determination’ issue, which is within the purview of the President/AGF. You should not try anybody in court for wanting a separate nation.
“That is how Nigeria was founded in 1960. That was how the Midwest region was created in 1963. That is how Nigeria lost Southern Cameroon to Cameroon. It is either called a referendum or plebiscite, and that is how Nigeria got Adamawa, the former Southern Cameroon, into Northern Nigeria.”
